De Lima vows to continue Robredo’s reforms, anti-crime campaigns

Justice Secretary Leila De Lima

MANILA, Philippines—Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo is truly “gone too soon,” Justice Secretary Leila De Lima said Tuesday as she vows to continue reforms and anti-crime campaign that she and Robredo had started.

“I know that there are still a lot of things we could have accomplished together. I intend to honor him by vowing to carry on what we have started. He truly was ‘gone too soon.’ I, on my own behalf and that of the DoJ family join Sec. Jess’s family in grieving his untimely passing. Their loss is the nation’s loss,” De Lima said in a statement Tuesday.

Describing Robredo as a quiet, good man and an exemplary public servant, she said she feels the loss of the secretary on a personal level not only because he was a fellow Bicolano “but also because our respective mandates meant that we have been working closely together over the last two years on various matters.”

“Anyone who had the opportunity to work with him, as I have, would have sensed his dedication, his sincerity and the high regard he placed on his responsibility to the people,” De Lima said.

The DoJ and the Department of Interior and Local Government are both part of the Justice Sector Coordinating Council created in 2010 to improve coordination efforts in various pillars of justice including the courts.

Both were also part of the body that investigated the Aug. 23, 2010 hostage crisis at the Quirino grandstand.

Both agencies also worked together in several aspects including curbing illegal gambling in the provinces, security for high-profile inmates especially accused in the Maguindanao massacre and many others.