Incoming Vice President Leni Robredo with a portrait of her late husband, former Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo. INQUIRER PHOTO
The victory of Leni Robredo in the vice presidential race might as well be a birthday gift for her husband, the late Secretary Jesse Robredo.
In a Facebook post on Friday, their daughter Aika said her father must have wanted to share Robredo, the next vice president, as a gift to the country.
Robredo was declared winner past 7 p.m. on Friday or on what would have been the 58th birthday of Jesse, former interior secretary and Naga city mayor who died in a plane crash in 2012.
READ: Leni celebrates VP win, Jesse’s birthday on same day
“Perhaps Papa Jesse’s gift for everyone on his 58th birthday is to formally and officially share our one and only Mama Leni,” Aika said on her Facebook account. “Ang panalo ni Leni ay panalo ng bawat Pilipino. Maraming salamat at congratulations po sa ating lahat!”
In an interview after the closing of the canvassing, Senator-elect Leila de Lima said Jesse must be turning in his grave in high spirits now that his wife had been declared winner.
Robredo trumped her closest rival, Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the late dictator.
According to the official count from the Congress canvassing tally of 166 certificates of canvass (COCs), Robredo led the vice presidential race with 14,418,817 votes, or just 263,473 ahead of Marcos who got 14,155,344.
READ: Leni Robredo is vice president
De Lima said Robredo was in Naga to visit her husband’s grave on his birthday.
“I’m so happy not only as part of the legal team but also as a fellow Bicolana. The whole Bicolandia is quite happy, and very proud of our VP Leni,” said De Lima, whose roots can be traced to Iriga, Camarines Sur.
“Alam niyo ba, birthday ngayon ni Secretary Jesse. Really, it’s quite a momentous occasion today for VP Leni,” she added.
De Lima said she texted Robredo her congratulations but the Camarines Sur representative had not yet replied because she was probably busy celebrating her victory.
“I texted her pero wala pang sagot. I understand nandun siya sa puntod ni Secretary Jesse. Sec Jesse must be so happy right now,” De Lima said.
Another counsel for Robredo, Romulo Macalintal, said it seemed like Robredo’s victory was her destiny especially when she was declared winner on the day of Jesse’s birthday.
In 2013, Leni whipped the Villafuerte political dynasty, buoyed by the outpour of sympathy for Jesse.
Leni served a three-year term as Camarines Sur representative before joining the vice president race.
“Tama nga na parang pinagtiyak na parang birthday ni Sec Jesse Robredo ay yung pagkakalam natin kung sino talaga nanalo sa pagkabise presidente ng ating bansa, walang iba kundi si Miss Leni Robredo,” Macalintal said.
Although Representative Robredo initially wanted to run for senator in the May 9 polls, she was convinced to be the running mate of LP standard-bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas when the administration’s first choice Sen. Grace Poe opted to run for president.
Robredo started off as the lowest in the voters’ preference polls until she rose to a statistical tie with front-runner Marcos before the elections.
She won the vice presidency through votes from her bailiwicks in Bicol, which stood out against the “Solid North” votes for Marcos.
READ: Robredo tells her supporters she has won
When her husband was still mayor, Robredo served as human rights lawyer for Saligan, an organization of lawyers for marginalized sectors.
As a one-term congresswoman, Robredo was able to pass the following pieces of legislation: the Extension of the Corporate Life of the Philippine Railways Corp., the Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act and the Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act.
Robredo also filed her own version of the freedom of information bill, which remains pending in Congress.
During the vice presidential debates, Robredo stood out among the all-male vice presidential cast, closing the debates with her punch lines, “the last man standing is a woman,” and “may the best woman win.”