‘Nation mourns loss of servant-leader, good public servant’

DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – There has been an outpouring of tributes for the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo whose body was found Tuesday morning in the waters off Masbate.

Television reports said that supporters of the chief of the Department of Interior and Local Government have gathered outside his home in Naga City, following news that Robredo’s body has been recovered by technical divers from the wreckage of the Piper Seneca plane.

Those who have been participating in a prayer vigil for Robredo at the National Shrine of the Divine Child inside the La Salle Greenhills campus in San Juan stayed to offer a mass for the DILG chief and his two companions. Paranaque Representative Roilo Golez, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, Education Secretary Armin Luistro, Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda and Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos-Deles were present.

Tributes also came in via social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook where many offered prayers for Robredo, remembering him as a good public servant.

“Jesse has passed. The nation has lost one of her finest servant-leaders. Join us in mourning and tribute,” Lacierda said over Twitter.

This was echoed by Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas who urged the public to offer prayers to Robredo’s wife and children. “Prayers please for ma’am Lennie and his kids.”

“RIP Sec. Robredo. A life well lived and a job well done. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. We share their loss and grief,” Cebu Representative Luigi Quisumbing said.

Mayor Alfredo Lim has meanwhile all government offices and schools in Manila to “display the Philippine flag at half-mast to mark the passing of DILG Sec. Jesse Robredo.”