MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte wanted to visit the wake of Salvacion Gerona, the mother of Vice President Leni Robredo, “but he has a lot of work to do”.
Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo said this as he also revealed that he will be the one to go to Naga City to personally condole with the Vice President.
“I’m going there to express our condolences today. I’m leaving shortly,” Panelo said in a Palace press briefing Wednesday, February 26.
“He wants to go pero ang daming trabaho kasi (but he has a lot of work to do). Ako na lang siguro muna. (I’ll be the one going there instead). I’ll be representing him,” he added.
Malacañang on Sunday expressed its condolences to Robredo after the passing of her 83-year-old mother.
In his statement, Panelo described Salvacion Gerona as a “selfless and dedicated teacher who molded countless of young minds across the generation.”
“We pray that the perpetual light will shine upon Ms. Gerona, and that her soul, through the mercy of God, may rest in eternal happiness and peace,” he added.
Salvacion Gerona was an English professor at the Universidad de Santa Isabel in Naga City. She was the wife of Naga Regional Trial Court Judge Antonio Nicomedes Gerona Sr., who died on October 13, 2013.