Jesse Robredo is Now Back Home in Naga

Secretary Jesse Robredo is Now Back Home in Naga.

We fondly call him Mayor Jess. He will be forever be our Mayor Jess. The Honest, most accessible person, humble and kind. Always smiling, always in purontong shorts and slippers.

Yes, before Robredo became chief of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), he was mayor of Naga City.

When he was the mayor, Naga city was free of “jueteng,” ( illegal numbers game).During his term as mayor bars, nightclubs and prostitution joints were not allowed to operate in the city, prompting ribbings from some of his kumpare that he was a “killjoy.”

He made Naga City a " Maogmang Lugar". He is our hero. An exemplary good public servant.

Robredo is a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay award, Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

Mayor Jess Robredo is also a Dangal ng Bayan awardee. Dangal ng Bayan is the highest award the government gives to government officials or employees for exemplary public service.

He is also a TOYM awardee.

Among all the Cabinet members, Robredo is the most accessible. He always returns calls, pm, fb message and is always available for interviews with the media.

He also immediately acts on complaints from the public. He is one the finest servant-leaders. A life well lived and a job well done. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. We share their loss and grief.

Robredo’s body has been placed in a metal coffin and television reports said that it will be brought to the Archbishop’s Palace where a public viewing is expected to start at 5 p.m.

Photo from Rappler

VIDEO: HON. JESSE ROBREDO'S BODY WAS RECOVERED

Mar Roxas: Nakausap na ng pangulo ang asawa ni Jess. Aquino was very quiet, sought absolute confirmation. Nung kumpirmado na, he wanted to make sure may malapit kay Ma'am Leni.

Source: Ancalerts

VIDEO OF MAR ROXAS: Sec. Jesse Robredo's Body was Found

"May malungkot tayong balita. At 7:25 this morning, 'yung volunteer divers natin nakita ang fuselage. May mga katawan sa loob pero 'di nila talaga ma-identify. Nung nakalapit sila at about 7:45 am, may mga indications na isa doon sa mga katawan sa loob ng fuselage ay kay Sec Robredo. At that was at about 7:45 (am)," Transport Secretary Mar Roxas said in a press briefing shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday in Masbate City. 


Robredo, Bahinting, and Chand went missing after their Piper Seneca plane plunged into the waters off Masbate City, just a few hundred meters short of the Moises Espinosa Airport in the city.

A fourth passenger, Jun Abrasado, Robredo's aide-de-camp, survived the crash. He was rescued by local fishermen moments after the crash.

The plane, coming from Cebu's Mactan International Airport, was on its way to Naga City when it encountered engine trouble.

The plane was attempting an emergency landing when it crashed into the waters of Masbate Pass, between Masbate and Ticao islands.

The DILG chief was on his way home to Naga for the long weekend.

Matt Reed, a volunteer British technical diver, was the one who saw Robredo's body underwater, said Roxas.

Robredo's body was found in the cabin of the plane; he was the first to be receovered and brought to land. At least one other body was seen in the cockpit area, Roxas added.

Robredo's body was immediately brought to a coast guard vessel. As of posting at 10 am, the body is now at Las Internas funeral parlor in Masbate.

Aquino, who is back in Manila, personally relayed the news to Robredo's widow Atty Leni Gerona-Robredo via a phone call at around 8:20 am, Roxas said.

Roxas told Sarah Bahinting, daughter of pilot Jesse Bahinting, who is also in Masbate: "I'm sorry for your loss."

They are seeking the help of the Army and Police forensics in handling the late secretary's remains, he added.

The plane's fuselage was found 800m offshore, at a depth of 180 ft, Roxas told reporters.


Souce: Rappler

Jesse Robredo’s Body Recovered

Jesse Robredo’s body was found by Matt Reed, a volunteer British technical diver. He was the one who saw Robredo's body underwater said Roxas. The technical divers found the fuselage of the missing Piper Seneca plane 800 meters from the shore at a depth of 180 feet at 7:45 a.m an emotional Sec. Mar Roxas broke the “sad news” at a briefing at 9:15 a.m.

The divers were able to get near the fuselage and spotted three bodies, including that of Robredo and the two missing pilots Jessup Bahinting and Nepali Kshitiz Chand.

Mar Roxas said that the body of Robredo was surfaced by the divers at around 8:40 a.m. and it was immediately placed in a body bag and transported to a waiting ship of the Philippine Coast Guard.  It is now on its way to Naga City, Roxas said. 

"Ongoing pa rin ang operation for the other bodies in the fuselage," Roxas announced.

They said that recovery was difficult as the fuselage had overturned but operations continued to retrieve the bodies of the two pilots who were found inside the Piper Seneca plane. 

“Nakasubsob ‘yung dalawang piloto sa loob ng cockpit kaya si Sec. Jesse ang unang nakuha ng diver (The two pilots were inside the cockpit that’s why they recovered Sec. Jesse’s body first),” said Roxas.

Photos from Jeff Canoy's Twitter account

President Benigno Aquino III has been told about the development and has personally informed the DILG chief’s wife, lawyer Leni Robredo.

“The President has already called Mrs. Leni,” said Roxas.

Our condolences to Hon. Jesse Robredo's wife Atty. Leni Gerona-Robredo and to his three children as well as to his parents, 3 sisters and 1 brother.

Source: Mar Roxas

JESSE ROBREDO UPDATE: New Debris found

JESSE ROBREDO UPDATE: New Debris found

Picture of debris found roughly 200 ft 2.5 km from shore 

4-man navy tech divers just returned. Confirm debris field in same area as Matt + 30 feet. Glass pieces of cockpit.#Robredo

Pictures and info from Mar Roxas

JESSE ROBREDO: Well loved by Bicolanos

JESSE ROBREDO: Well loved by Bicolanos.

He was a good man. One of the FEW GOOD MEN in the Aquino government today.  He was very honorable.

Our family knows him personally. When he was still the Mayor of Naga City, I often bumped into him in puruntong shorts and slippers in one of the stores we mutually frequent way back then in Naga City  He is so low profile, often walking alone without any bodyguards in the streets of Naga City.

He was very friendly to everyone, even to those he hardly knows. He was very approachable and he responded to queries may it be in person or in FB when he was still the mayor.

He was a dedicated family man.  I remember him carrying his daughter during one of his walks in the city street.

He is a loving father to his three daughters:

1. Aika
2. Trish
3. Jillian

He was a loyal husband to Attorney Leni Gerona-Robredo.

The Honorable Jesse Robredo belongs to a well-off family in Naga but he remained humble.

Father and daughter. Hon. Jess Robredo with daughter Aika Robredo.

Trish, Aika and Jillian Robredo

Hon. Jesse Robredo with other "voyadores" during last year's Penafrancia Fiesta

"Voyadores" is an altered form of the Spanish word vogadores, which means seafarers. Loosely, "voya" means "to transport something to another place." So, the "voyadores" transport something to another place.

During Penafrancia Fiesta, voyadores are male devotees who serve as secondary layer of human cordon during the procession, wherein the image is paraded along the major city streets and then into the Naga River for the fluvial parade. The image of Ina (Mother), the Our Lady of Penafrancia, is transferred to a pagoda or vessel pulled by boats paddled by voyadores.

Hon. Jesse Robredo with wife attorney Leni Gerona-Robredo and daughter Aika in Malaysia.

Hon. Jesse Robredo with wife attorney Leni Gerona-Robredo at the Great Wall of China.

JESSE ROBREDO update: Robredo plane’s Wing Portion

JESSE ROBREDO update: Robredo plane’s Wing Portion

“Debris – appears to be (the) right wing. Numbers are part of aircraft designation RPC-4431,” Roxas posted on twitter.

Recovered so far are the following:

• Right Wing portion of the Piper Seneca plane, 
• Flight plan
• Flight manifest
• Fuel tank of the plane

Members of the search and rescue teams have yet to recover other parts of the ill-fated aircraft.

Super Junior’s Donghae and Siwon

Super Junior 이동해’s Donghae and Siwon posted a picture on Twitter during their  ‘Bench’ show in the Philippines last August 15, 2012.

The event was attended by 25,000 fans in Trinoma.

필리핀 Bench 광고 팬미팅에 와주셨던 2만명 ELF 감사합니다 !!^^ 오랜만에 봤는데 더 이뻐졌던데요 ^^ I  so much !! With 시원

Photos from Donghae's twitter posts.