Although Jesse Robredo’s remains have been found we should not stop looking for him. We can continue searching from where we are. If you have Internet nearby google his name. Search for who he was, where he came from and what he was trying to do when he quite suddenly disappeared. He had many friends in Cebu who will vouch for him. Especially friends who worked with and for the urban poor.
In April, 2003, he suspended all demolitions of informal settler homes in Metro Manila in the wake of violence which occurred previously in Parañaque. He ordered pre-demolition meetings before any demolition is done seeking as well more clarification on government policies regarding this. One of his avowed goals was the proper relocation of informal settlers.
He distinguished himself by favoring genuine empowerment through consultations over patronage in dealing with the poor. He was involved with the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, which sought to encourage civil society initiatives in rural development. He was the former mayor of Naga City. He was the youngest mayor at the age of 29 when he was elected to that post.
He was a Harvard graduate with a masters in public administration. He was an alumnus as well of the University of the Philippines masters of business administration program. He was as well an alumnus of De La Salle University where he earned his undergraduate degree in industrial management engineering and mechanical engineering.
He received 14 major individual awards. Among them: the year 2000 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service, the 1996 Outstanding Young Persons of the World Award, the Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines, 1998 Konrad Adenauer Medal of Excellence as Most Outstanding City Mayor of the Philippines and the first ever “Dangal ng Bayan ” Award of the Civil Service Commission.
All these gave him excellent grounding to be the excellent non-traditional politician that he was. He had ample experience in working for and with non-government organizations. There was a collective sigh of relief when he was appointed Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) head over Vice President Jejomar Binay.
But this position put him also at the top of the Philippine National Police (PNP). His last official function before he died was to attend a police convention in Cebu City.
He was flying home to Naga City to be at the awarding of his daughter who won a swimming competition.
Being DILG secretary put him as well in a key position in the current government’s war against corruption. One of his key goals was to work for the eradication of jueteng in the country. He was in the process of cleaning up the PNP. In this work he went by the motto “Kaya Natin,” which more than anything points to the difficulty or even perhaps the near impossibility of this latter task.
From this, it is easy to understand that he was doing extremely dangerous work when his plane crashed off the Masbate coast. The crash may have been pure accident. One source said, the plane he was riding in was a “flying coffin.” But he had an excellent pilot in Capt. Jessup Bahinting who is known locally as a flying hero. The weather at the time of the crash was not at all remarkable. The crash site was so close to shore there were eye-witnesses who actually saw the plane’s tail bob up and down in the water before finally sinking.
Given all these circumstances, the crash was at the very least curious. It is certainly for now a mystery that needs to be clarified in no uncertain terms. Secretary Robredo was a soldier in the fight against corruption. His death is a step backward in that fight. And we must determine if his death was truly accidental or if the country’s enemies had a hand in it. Quite certainly, they have scored strategic points with his disappearance and death. Though his body has been found the search for who he was, why and how he died should still continue.