Interior Secretary Mar Roxas. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Three years after former Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo died in a plane crash, Mar Roxas still turns emotional recalling his sudden death. His eyes tear up鈥攊ronically, the same eyes that people say are aloof and can hardly connect to people.
鈥淩eally a sad day,鈥� Roxas recalls that Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012. 鈥淚 was having a late barbecue lunch at Cue when I got word that Jesse鈥檚 plane was missing after it took off from Cebu. So I called Bodet (Manila International Airport Authority general manager Jose Angel Honrado) to find out more.鈥�
Honrado confirmed that the authorities were indeed trying to track down the plane taking Robredo from Cebu to Naga, his home and where he served as mayor for six nonconsecutive terms. That Saturday Robredo was flying home for the weekend to be with his wife, Leni, and three daughters, more specifically to make it to his daughter鈥檚 swimming competition.
The Piper Seneca plane went missing shortly after it took off Saturday morning from Mactan International Airport in Cebu. On it were Robredo, his aide and two pilots.
鈥淚 broke the news to the President. He was stunned,鈥� recalls Roxas. 鈥淭he President decided we fly the next morning to Masbate, the missing plane鈥檚 flight path and the closest point between Naga and Cebu, as the search and rescue operations began.
鈥淭hat night, the President called to say that instead of 11, we鈥檇 fly at six in the morning and join the first wave (of the Presidential Security Group that precedes the presidential party on every trip).鈥� This denoted the urgency of the moment.
鈥淭hen the technical divers and the equipment were flown to Masbate.鈥�
Searching high and low
Beginning that Sunday, Aug. 19, the President and Roxas, then transport secretary, stayed to oversee the search and rescue mission in the waters off Masbate. Mr. Aquino, however, had to fly back to Manila before Wednesday for the Aug. 21 commemoration of the death anniversary of his father, the political martyr Benigno Aquino Jr.
鈥淭hen we got news from the diver that they had found the wreck and he took photos,鈥� Roxas says. 鈥淭he (retrieval) dive was planned for the next morning, entailing more people and equipment.
鈥淥n the dive the next morning, the diver wrote on the slate (sent up to the surface) that he had found the body wearing the clothes described to him. It was most likely Jesse. At that point a route was organized, where the body would be retrieved and brought to a small boat in the part of the ocean away from the crowd and the glare of media (that had gathered for the search operations). The plan was to bring the body straight to the mortuary.鈥�
Retrieval behind the scene
In the small boat, apart from the retrieval team, was a slight woman, Eli Antonino of the political Antonino clan, who is a diver and good friend of Roxas and Robredo. Hers was a discreet but critical presence. 鈥淪he would identify the body and ascertain it was Jesse,鈥� Roxas says. (Ironically, Antonino wasn鈥檛 even used to looking at the dead. That was a first for her.)
鈥淪he did identify Jesse, and I had to call the President for the news, and then Leni (the widow).鈥�
How did he break it to her? 鈥淪orry, Leni, it鈥檚 confirmed. Jesse is gone.鈥� Then he advised her that the President would be calling that moment.
Robredo鈥檚 body was found
Aug. 21, and shortly after, those of the pilot Jessup Balinting and copilot, Nepalese Kshitiz Chand. The other passenger, Jun Abrasado, Robredo鈥檚 aide, survived and was rescued by fishermen shortly after the crash.
Sweeping the street
The crash sent the country into mourning for the man who hardly called attention to himself, and whose brand of politics and governance鈥攊ndeed whose political and social philosophy鈥攚ent against the traditional political structures.
Robredo stirred the political landscape and caught the imagination of the idealists among us, when as a mayor, he showed what it was like for a non-trapo (traditional politician) to lead. His transparent, accessible governance鈥攁nchored on progressive, albeit unconventional, policies鈥攚as dubbed as tsinelas leadership; the image of him, in tsinelas (flip-flops), sweeping the street on some mornings became indelible in the minds not only of his constituents but also of the public at large.
His six nonconsecutive terms as mayor of Naga City in Camarines Sur, beginning in 1988, won him the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service in 2000. He was the first Filipino mayor to receive this award.
An industrial management engineering and mechanical engineering graduate of De La Salle University, he also worked for a master鈥檚 degree in public administration degree from John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
It was with these credentials that he was appointed secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) by President Aquino in 2010.
鈥淲ith Jesse, what you saw was what you got. He was a sincere guy, truly devoted to helping his people out of poverty and to fighting the traditional political structure,鈥� Roxas recalls an esteemed colleague.
Trust and transparency
He and Robredo had known each other for about 20 years, Robredo in his capacity as mayor, and Roxas, in various terms and capacities, in Congress and as member of the Cabinet, in the Estrada and Arroyo administrations.
鈥淗e was an extraordinary guy,鈥� he adds.
How did Robredo conduct his 鈥渢sinelas leadership鈥�?
鈥淭o begin with, he himself was no trapo. He was sincere in having the people as his true bosses. He walked the talk.
鈥淭he images on my mind were his actual consultations with the people. Not pakitang tao (not for show). He engaged them 鈥� even in real debate. And these were not only the formal structures, like the mayors, but people organizations, NGOs (nongovernment organizations). He was a real believer in the strength of his mandate, when he ran against the Villafuerte dynasty, the entrenched political dynasty.
鈥淗e wasn鈥檛 part of the old system. And his consultative approach indeed led to stable policies and programs, not the type that were good only as long as he lasted.鈥�
Good governance seal
Roxas singles out the seal of good governance that Robredo started among the local governments. He has seen how this seal of good housekeeping established a mode of conduct for local governments.
鈥淗e got the President to approve the performance challenge fund, the reward for the seal of good housekeeping.鈥� The fund consisted of P3 million for the city, P1 million for the municipality, P7 million for the province.
With the fund, the local governments could choose the projects themselves, not the national government. The seal of good governance formulated by Robredo involved primarily, according to Roxas, 鈥渇inancial transactions鈥攖ransparency, budgets, in biddings, no adverse COA (Commission on Audit) findings.鈥�
When his turn in the DILG came, he expanded its coverage to include, apart from the financial area, he says, 鈥渄isaster preparedness, business-friendliness or cutting the red tape, social protection such as healthcare and provisions for the persons with disabilities and the elderly.鈥�
It鈥檚 apparent how the late Robredo continues to hold a special place in the heart of Roxas, the man endorsed by Mr. Aquino for the 2016 presidential election.
鈥淛esse was among the first to believe in me. That was when I was running for the Senate,鈥� Roxas says. Robredo helped him campaign in Bicol.
鈥淏ut to be clear,鈥� Roxas adds, 鈥渨e were patriotic allies ahead of being personal friends. We met fighting for the same causes.鈥�
Does he believe that a non-trapo like Robredo has made a dent on the quality of Philippine electorate?
鈥淧eople today are different than in 2009. They鈥檙e more mature. How mature? We will know in 2016. It鈥檚 hard to deny how the country has moved forward. Hopefully the people will have different standards now for the presidency. They have seen, in Jesse and in the President, a leader, for the first time, na nagpapakatotoo (who is true to himself).
鈥淗opefully these traits of public service will serve as good benchmark鈥攎akatao (humane), open and competent.鈥�
Touched by Jesse
Asked if he has found Robredo鈥檚 traits in his widow, Roxas doesn鈥檛 think twice: 鈥淛esse touched our lives. He must have touched Leni鈥檚 life the most. And on her own, Leni is a formidable person鈥攁 lawyer, competent.鈥�
He鈥檚 emphatic about a point: 鈥淚n 2009, I was chasing my ambition to lead our country. Today I feel much calmer鈥攑anatag ang loob ko鈥攂ecause this (the presidential run) is not about me. It鈥檚 a mission to defend the daang matuwid (straight path) that the President has started. Daang Matuwid is no mere slogan, it鈥檚 what we鈥檝e worked for the past five years. It鈥檚 the principles of governance.鈥�
He claims that he really wasn鈥檛 sure of the President鈥檚 endorsement of him as the Liberal Party presidential candidate until a few days before the proclamation at Club Filipino on July 31.
鈥淗e called me to his office,鈥� Roxas recalls his meeting with Mr. Aquino. 鈥淲ith him were his speech writers. He was dictating the points to them, of what he would say that Friday. It was halfway into the meeting that I felt it was that. I asked him, 鈥楽o Mr. President, can I already make the reservation for the Club?鈥� He said, 鈥榶es.鈥� I felt truly honored yet humbled.鈥�
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