Robredo wanted daughter Aika to carry his name even after marriage

So her father used to joke, Aika said, that she should not change her name if she gets married.

 

"'Yung lokohan lang namin dati was, 'kapag nagkaroon ka na ng asawa, huwag ka nang magpalit ng last name. Kasi wala kang kapatid na lalaki,'" Robredo's eldest daughter Aika, 24, said in a Balitanghali interview on September 2.

 

 

Aika's sisters are Patricia, 18, and Jillian, 12.  

"I really haven't given this much thought yet, to tell you honestly," Aika told GMA News Online via Facebook message.

 

When asked if she and her father had talked about her getting married in the future, the Ateneo graduate said in the Balitanghali interview: "'Pag nag-uusap kasi kami laging short-term, medium-term. So like ngayon 'yung focus niya is, say ako, 'yung work ko and 'yung career ko, anong plano mo for the next... eto ‘yung options."

 

Aika was close to her father, who trusted his daughters to make their own decisions. "Siguro malaki 'yung tiwala niya sa aming magkakapatid na 'alam niyo na kung ano 'yung tama, so alam niyo kung ano 'yung dapat niyong gawin,'" she said.

 

Earlier, Aika's sister Patricia had said she and her sisters would not have boyfriends unless they were just like their father. "Promise Pa, hindi kami magbo-boyfriend ni Ate at ni Jill kung hindi kasing pogi at kasing bait mo," Patricia said with a smile in her eulogy on August 26, accompanied by giggles from the audience in Naga.

 

According to the biography of the late Secretary prepared by the Ramon Magsaysay Awards Foundation (RMAF), one of the principles of Jesse Robredo and his wife Leni is that "if our children cannot inherit anything material, at least they will inherit a good name." Filipinas can legally retain maiden names

 

If Robredo's daughters decide to retain their maiden name after marriage, they may do so according to the law. Article 370 of the New Civil Code of the Philippines states a married woman may use the following:

 

In 2012, a Supreme Court ruling said a married woman has an option, but not a duty, to use the surname of the husband in any of the ways provided by Article 370 of the Civil Code. 

 

"She is therefore allowed to use not only any of the three names provided in Article 370, but also her maiden name upon marriage. She is not prohibited from continuously using her maiden name once she is married because when a woman marries, she does not change her name but only her civil status. Further, this interpretation is in consonance with the principle that surnames indicate descent," the ruling said. –KG/HS, GMA News