Leni douses speculation on Jesse’s death: It was an accident

Dousing speculation that the death of her husband was premeditated, Vice President Leni Robredo on Thursday said she was sure that the plane crash that killed former Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo was an accident.

“Sigurado ako na ‘yong nangyari sa asawa ko, aksidente,” Robredo said during a press briefing at the Office of the Vice President in the Quezon City Reception House.

Theories are circulating on social media that Jesse’s death was plotted by former government officials after he supposedly pursued an investigation on the involvement of local executives and police officials in the illegal drugs trade and protecting carjacking groups.

Her husband, who died in a plane crash off the Masbate coast in August 2012, was succeeded at the Department of Interior and Local Government by Mar Roxas, Robredo’s running mate who lost his presidential bid in the recently concluded national elections.

Days after Jesse’s death, news reports surfaced that former Interior Undersecretary Ronnie Puno with then Senior Supt. Joel Pagdilao and Supt. Oliver Tanseco stormed into the Robredo family’s condominium to “secure classified documents” that Jesse kept.

Pagdilao, now a director or two-star rank police general, is one of the officials President Rodrigo Duterte has accused of being a drug protector. He has since been relieved from his post as the chief of the National Capital Region Police Office.

Robredo said her husband was investigating “issues” but she did not know if these involved Puno and Pagdilao.

“Alam ko na may mga ini-imbestiga siyang mga issues pero hindi ko alam ‘yong mga agency, o si General Pagdilao,” she said.

“Hindi ko din alam kung kasama sila doon sa pumasok sa amin the day after the crash,” she added.

The Vice President said she took offense at Puno’s attempt to get Jesse’s documents and reported it to the authorities.

“‘Yon naman ‘yong attempt na iyon nireklamo ko iyon … in-offer ko lahat, kung ano man ang nasa documents na iyon. Parang at that time I was managing my sanity, ‘di ba. I was managing my sanity,” she said.

She recalled that at the time Jesse’s body was still missing, it did not matter to her what the documents contained.

“Ang sa akin lang ‘non, hindi pa nila nahahanap ang katawan ng asawa ko so ‘yon ang nakaka-consume sa amin. So sinabi ko ‘non, I don’t want to have anything to do with that, inaasa ko sa authorities na sila ang mag-aayos ‘non,” she said.

“Parang sinasabi ko wala akong pakialam diyan, ang sa akin ang pakialam ko ‘yong mga anak ko, kung maayos ang katawan ng asawa ko, mahanap,” Robredo added.

“Bahala na kayo diyan kung ano ‘yong mga papeles na nandiyan,” the Vice President said. “Ang sa akin lang, ‘yong pagkawala kasi ng asawa ko it was something na mahirap dalhin para sa aming mag-iina. Na ‘yong lahat ng mga, kung ano mga ‘yong mga incidentals surrounding it, at that time ayoko nang makialam.”/rga