VP Robredo marks Jesse’s death anniversary away from hometown Naga for first time

Vice President Leni Robredo has missed Naga City's commemoration of the eighth death anniversary of her husband Jesse Robredo amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is the first time that we were not able to come home to Naga to commemorate Jesse’s death anniversary. Thank you to the City Government of Naga led by Mayor Nelson Legacion, and Congressman Gabby Bordado for honoring his life eight years after his death,” Robredo said in a statement.

“Thank you to the entire Naga City officialdom, the barangay captains and officials and all our friends who remember Jesse in a most special way today,” she added.

Jesse Robredo, who was President Benigno S. Aquino's Interior Secretary, died in a plane crash off Masbate in August 2012. Prior to his untimely death, he served as the Mayor of Naga City for 18 years and in 2000 won the Ramon Magsaysay award for Good Governance, an award considered Asia's version of the Nobel Prize.

Earlier in the day, Vice President Robredo reminisced about her time with her husband by posting a photo of them together in what appears to be a panda sanctuary.

“Eight years. And it feels like he never left us,” she said.

Per the Vice President, an online mass will be held at 5 p.m. today, to be broadcast through the Jesse M. Robredo Foundation Facebook page. The mass will be celebrated by Father Provincial Jun Viray, S.J. — BM, GMA News