Manila:President Benigno Aquino declared a national day of mourning as thousands of Filipinos expressed deep sorrow for the loss of Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo whom they unanimously called a hero, a decent government official and an icon of good governance, as soon as news that technical divers extracted his body from an overturned fuselage of the ill-fated Piper Seneca, 55.38 metre under the sea and 800 kilometres away from the shore of Masbate in central Philippines on Tuesday morning, three days after the crash.
From Malacanang, Manila’s presidential palace, Aquino flew to Naga City (in Albay, Bicol, southern Luzon) to be with Robredo’s wife Maria Leonor and daughters Aika, Patricia and Jillian, before Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas announced that a foreign technical driver spotted the overturned fuselage of the Pieper Seneca plane which paved the way for the recovery of Robredo’s body.
Roxas intermittently cried as he talked to reporters, narrating how Robredo’s body was recovered.
The rescue operation for Capt. Jessup Bahinting, owner and pilot of the ill-fated plane, and his co-pilot Kshitz Chand, a Nepalese, whose bodies were still at the plane’s cockpit, were was temporarily halted after a German diver almost died following a dive 60 metre under the sea, said Roxas, adding, “Because of strong undercurrent, it was feared that the fuselage might be swept to a deeper ravine under the sea.”
The plane was cut into three parts when it crashed into the sea on Saturday, 500 kilometres from the runway of Masbate Airport, said Roxas, adding that strong undercurrents brought the plane’s wreckage to a deeper part.
Robredo’s brother Butch was on a speed boat, near the area where the body was recovered, when he confirmed the identity of the secretary. “He was speechless and silently crying,” said a radio report.
Robredo’s family in Naga City received “with sadness” the news that came from Aquino. Earlier, when the search and rescue operation was at its height, they said they were prepared for any eventuality.
Last Sunday, Paul Cabug, an aide, dropped an old pillow used by Robredo to the sea, following a folk belief that this would help people locate his body, said Naga City Councilor Elizabeth Labadia.
Hundreds of residents of Naga City brought streamers, which said, “We love you, Pogi (handsome),: and “Robredo, Icon of Good Governance,” as they separated in two groups and went separately to the airport and to Funeraria Imperial to meet Robredo’s body.
“People began believing in government because of Robredo,” said another streamer. “We lost a decent government official.”
Thousands of resident stayed overnight at Naga’s Archbishop Palace where the wake for Robredo began at five in the afternoon.
Other local government officials outside of Naga and Masbate cried as they talked about Robredo during radio and TV interviews.
“He was a simple person, and very professional one. He would arrive at six in the morning and leave at nine in the evening,” said an official of the department of interior and local government in suburban Quezon City. “His death is a loss to the country. We will never forget him,” said sobbing Vice Mayor Jose Cadiz of eastern suburban Marikina.
Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim said that Robredo is “now a hero and a good model for government officials”.
“He was a champion of good governance,” said Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr, adding his track record would serve as an inspiration for Filipinos to believe that government could bring about change.
Robredo’s aide, Chief Insp Jun Abrasado, survived the plane crash, saying he quickly escaped from the plane’s open door before the crash.
Meanwhile, Aquino assigned Ochoa to temporarily take over as head of the department of interior and local government.
Observers said that Robredo, 54, would be a hard act to follow. He was identified as Aquino’s close friend.
In 1988, at 29, he was elected Mayor of Naga City in Camarines Sur. In 2000, at age 42, he received the Ramon Magsaysay award, equivalent of the Nobel Prize, for good government service, and for encouraging people’s participation in governance, During his watch, Naga became one of the country’s “most improved cities in Asia, Asiaweek’s citation said in 1999.
He was an Edward Mason Fellow and a graduate of Masters of Public Administration at John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachussets in 1999. He finished his Masters in Business Administration at the premier University of the Philippines in 1985. He had two undergraduate degrees, Industrial Management engineering and Mechanical Engineering, at the De la Salle University.
