Robredo credits ‘Ina’ for grace

Vice President Leni Robredo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

NAGA CITY—As she navigates the national political landscape, Vice President Leni Robredo has prayed for guidance to Our Lady of Peñafrancia or “Ina,” the patroness of the Bicol region.

“Now that I am Vice President, I understand that it’s a very tough balancing act. For example, my party is different from [President Duterte’s] but I am a member of the Cabinet. I don’t have training at all in national politics. A part of my daily prayers to Ina is to intercede for me so that I will be guided on what to do and what to say,” said Robredo, who attended the fluvial procession for the Our Lady of Peñafrancia here on Saturday.

Robredo defended her devotion to Ina against nonbelievers who criticize the practice as a form of idolatry.

“It is not the image that you worship. It is only the visual representation of God, to feel His presence,” she said.

She said she developed the habit of practicing the nine-day novena to Ina all year round.

“When it (practicing the novena) grows on you, you cannot shake it off. I have developed the habit of crediting all the graces and care [I have received], including my marriage to Jesse, to the intercession of Ina,” Robredo said.

The Vice President lost her husband Jesse, secretary at the Department of the Interior and Local Government and Naga City mayor for 19 years, to a plane crash off Masbate on Aug. 18, 2012.

Robredo said it was natural for her to become a devotee because she was raised by her Catholic parents who are devotees of Ina.

She started her devotion to Our Lady of Peñafrancia when she was in college.