Jesse
Manalastas Robredo (May 27, 1958 – August 18, 2012) was a 2000 Ramon Magsaysay
Awardee for Government Service, a Filipino statesman who served as Secretary of
the Interior and Local Government in the administration of President Benigno
Aquino III from 2010 to until his death in 2012.
Beginning in 1988,
Robredo served six terms as Mayor of Naga City in Camarines Sur. In recognition
of his achievements as Naga City mayor, Robredo was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay
Award for Government Service in 2000, the first Filipino mayor so honored. He
was appointed to the Cabinet of President Aquino in July 2010. Robredo was a
member of the Liberal Party.
On August 18, 2012,
the Piper PA-34-200 Seneca I aircraft carrying Secretary Robredo crashed off
the shore of Masbate Island. He was scheduled to go home and watch his
daughter's swimming competition in Naga City. The Philippine Department of
Interior and Local Government said that the pilot sent a distress call to the
Masbate airport requesting an emergency landing. The airplane never made it to the
airport and crashed in the sea. Robredo's body was retrieved three days later,
August 21, 800 meters from the shore and 180 feet below sea level.
Early
life
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| Jesse and family. Thanks to sankieblogger. |
Personal
life
He was married to
lawyer Maria Leonor Gerona Robredo with three daughters; Jessica Marie (Aika), Janine
Patricia (Tricia), and Jillian Therese (Jill).
Education
He studied at Naga
Parochial School, a private Catholic school where he began to hone his talent
and love for chess. The school was known and had established a record for
winning Bicol's annual provincewide chess tournament and Robredo's brother had
been among its champions. However, when it was Robredo's turn to represent his
school, he only garnered second place.
Robredo entered high
school at Ateneo de Naga University in 1970 and was in junior year when
President Ferdinand
Marcos declared martial law in September 1972. The university administration immediately called an assembly and warned its students
against getting involved in anti-government activities
– which could result in the school being closed down.
Robredo obtained his
undergraduate degrees in Industrial Management Engineering and Mechanical Engineering
at De La Salle University. He was later accepted as an Edward Mason Fellow and graduated
with a Masters of Public Administration degree from Harvard University's John
F. Kennedy School of Government in 1999. In 1985, Robredo finished his Master’s
in Business Administration at the University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon
City, as a scholar and was named the Graduate School and Faculty Organization
awardee for scholarly excellence.
The Far Eastern
University bestowed Robredo with a doctorate in Humanities, honoris causa,
during its 80th commencement exercise held at the plenary hall of the
Philippine International Convention Center on April 4, 2008, recognizing his efforts
to develop Naga City.
Career
Early
career
In 1980, Robredo
worked for the San Miguel Corporation in Mandaluyong City, in the Physical
Distribution
Technical Services of the General Services Division, and within six months,
Robredo had
hurdled two of the three levels in the division and
was then sent to the finance division for another six months. When Robredo's
immediate superior transferred to Magnolia Ice Cream, San Miguel Corporation's
ice cream division, he was invited to come
along. He was assigned to logistics planning and concurrently functioned as staff assistant to the physical distribution
director.
In 1986, Robredo
returned to Naga City, where he became Program Director of the Bicol River
Basin Development Program, an agency tasked to undertake integrated area development
planning in the three provinces of the Bicol region.
Mayor
of Naga City
In 1988, Robredo was
elected mayor of Naga City at age 29, the youngest
mayor in Philippine
history. His three
terms as mayor ended on June 30, 1998. He was again
elected as City Mayor in 2001 and finished his
second three terms on June 30, 2010.
He served for a total
of nineteen (19) years as Naga City Mayor before being appointed on July 9,
2010 as Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). Robredo
was able to transform Naga City from being dull and lethargic to being one of
the "Most Improved Cities in Asia," as cited by Asiaweek Magazine
in 1999.
During his time in
city hall, Robredo was credited for "dramatically improved stakeholdership
and people participation in governance, in the process restoring Naga to its
preeminent position as the premier city of Bicol Region."
In 1995, in
recognition of his skills and competence as a leader and development manager,
Robredo was elected President of the League of Cities of the Philippines, the national
association of city mayors. Robredo also chairs the Metro Naga Development
Council." He served as chairman of the Regional Development Council, the
regional planning and coordinative body
of Bicol's six
provinces and seven cities, from 1992 to 1998.
Secretary
of Interior and Local Government
Benigno Aquino III
was Secretary of Interior and Local Government, until
Aquino named Robredo to succeed him. At least two politicians from Bicol, Luis Ortega and Luis
Villafuerte, Sr. expressed opposition to
Robredo's confirmation by the Commission on Appointments of which Villafuerte
himself was a member.
In March 2012, the
Commission on Appointments bypassed Robredo's nomination.
His nomination was
bypassed again in June 2012. Another confirmation
hearing had reportedly been set on August 29,
2012, eleven days after Robredo's sudden death.
Death
On August 18, 2012,
he boarded a Piper PA-34 Seneca in Cebu City to fly to Naga City, however the airplane's pilots decided to make an emergency landing at
the Moises R. Espinosa Airport in Masbate City
due to engine failure. The aircraft carrying Secretary Robredo along with his
aide, Police Chief Inspector June Paolo
Abrazado crashed off the shore of Masbate Island. His aide survived the crash. Search and recovery operations were conducted by Philippine Coast Guard/
Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary, Philippine
Navy, Philippine Air Force and the local government of Masbate, with assistance
from a number of foreign technical divers.
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| Marker at Robredo crash site. Thanks to Bicol Mail. |
Robredo's body was
found at 8:15 am, Tuesday, August 21, 2012 (PHT). The news was confirmed by DOTC
Secretary Mar Roxas. He said the body was found 800 meters (2,600 feet) off
Masbate at 54 metres (177 feet) deep.
State
Funeral
His funeral was held
at the Archbishop's Palace in Naga City before it was transferred to Malacañang
Palace for an official wake on August 24, 2012. His remains were later brought
back to his hometown of Naga in the early hours of August 26. He was cremated
on Tuesday, August 28, 2012.
Philippine President
Aquino conferred the Philippine Legion of Honor with the rank of Chief
Commander upon
Robredo on August 28, 2012 just before the state funeral.
Honours
and awards
◾ Dangal ng Bayan Award by the Civil Service Commission
(Philippines), 1990
◾ Ramon Magsaysay Award, 2000
◾ Philippine Legion of Honor, Chief Commander (posthumous), 2012
◾ Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award (posthumous) by the Civil Service
Commission (Philippines),
2012
◾ Quezon Service Cross (posthumous), 2012
References
