Braille Van Bete Reyes was born on March 31, 1954 in Sagada, Mt. Province. He is the son of Mr. Ressurrection Reyes, Sr., a retired music supervisor of Mountain Province and Mrs. Valentina Cawis Bete, a retired grade school teacher of Antadao Elementary School.
He pursued Bachelor of Theology at Saint Andrews Theological Seminary in 1972 and graduated in 1979. Due to his love for more knowledge, he continued his studies and took up Bachelor of Science in Commerce Major in Management at University of Baguio and finished it in 1983. He then continued with a Master's degree in Public Administration, graduating in 1994, and finished Doctor of Philosophy in 2000 at Baguio Central University.
In 1986, he was assigned as the school chaplain of Easter School (now Easter College), and also became the coach of both basketball and volleyball teams.
In 1994, he left the Church ministry and became a full-time insurance agent of PhilAm Life Insurance Company and did part-time teaching at the BCU Graduate School and at the National Police Training Institute. He ventured to public service in 1996 by joining the Baguio City government. He served as an Administrative Officer III at the City Engineer's Office, Supply Officer IV at the General Services Office, Local Assessment Operations Officer IV at the City Assessor's Office, and finally as a Permits and Licensing Officer at the Permits and Licensing Division.
Despite his many achievements in life, he still seeks personal satisfaction by serving others. He feels satisfied at the end of the day not thinking of the monetary aspect but of the service he had rendered.
He is happily married to Mrs. Ursula Capuyan-Reyes. He has two (2) children, the first one named Karl Lagan, who finished Electronics and Communications Engineering at Saint Louis University, and Kisca Labanet, who earned a degree in Information Technology at the University of the Cordilleras. Both are now working in the United Kingdom, together with their mother.
Source: SPEAK Vol. XVI Issue No. 1