Cabinet officials: Robredo exemplified ‘purity in public service’

For his fellow Cabinet officials, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo will be remembered as someone who exemplified “purity in public service.” Budget and Management chief Florencio Abad said Robredo “emerged largely unscathed in a bureaucracy notorious for its moral casualties.” “He bravely immersed himself in the competing confluences of governance, of politics, and development. Even more remarkably, he would emerge from these turbulent currents with his integrity intact, his optimism as boundless as he began and his actions a source of inspiration for those who want to follow in his footsteps,” Abad said in his eulogy for his deceased colleague on Saturday night. Robredo died last August 18 after the small plane he was riding plunged in waters of the coast of Masbate City. His body was recovered inside the plane’s wreckage last Wednesday. Abad likewise recalled how Robredo faced his political opponents and “dangerous” forces such as drug lords, warlords and crime syndicates “with outstanding candor.” “Jesse [could] talk to just about anybody with frontness and sincerity. The doors to his heart were swung wide open to practically just about anyone,” the Budget secretary said. He likewise vowed to continue the example set by Robredo, whom he described as “a tough act to follow.” “Although we continue to wrestle with Jesse’s untimely death, this nation’s grief is tempered by a renewed sense of hope that Jesse’s legacy of reform and integrity will prove timeless, sustained by a new culture of honest and compassionate competent governance that he championed in his lifetime,” Abad said. Pathfinder towards ‘tuwid na daan’ Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II meanwhile said that Robredo served as a “pathfinder” towards President Benigno Aquino III’s “tuwid na daan.” “Binalikat niya lahat ng maliliit, malalaki at kumplikadong mga problema na nasabi natin sa kanya. Oftentimes, hindi pa natin alam na may problema, nasolusyonan na niya,” Roxas said in his eulogy for Robredo. Roxas also described the late local government chief as someone who was “unassuming, unaffected and more concerned with authenticity.” “Si Jesse, true believer sa mga pinaglalaban natin. Hindi lang mga salita sa kanya ang ‘Kayo ang boss’ at ang ‘matuwid na daan.’ Jesse was willing to give his all for what is right,” he said. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) head Ramon Paje meanwhile called Robredo his personal “sounding board in governance.” “I have not seen, in my career, the purity in public service other than Jesse’s. Doon ko po nakita kung gaano ka-pure ang pagsisilbi ni Jesse sa taumbayan,” Paje said in his eulogy for Robredo. The Environment Secretary also recalled how Robredo helped his department’s campaign against illegal logging by holding local government and police officials accountable for their actions. “Sabi po niya sa akin, ‘Gibuha namon, gibuha na,’ meaning, ‘Go do it. I will join you,” Paje said. During the necrological service in Malacañang on Saturday night, the Cabinet officials even sang the Frank Sinatra song “My Way” for Robredo. They also ended the night with a rendition of “Betcha By Golly Wow,” which is said to be Robredo’s song for his wife, Leni. — BM, GMA News