Widow agrees to Aug. 18 as Robredo Day in Naga

DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo

NAGA CITY—The widow of the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo has given her nod to declare August 18 as Robredo Day in Naga City.

Vice Mayor Gabriel Bordado said Leni Robredo gave the go signal to declaring Jesse M. Robredo Day the date his plane went down off the coast of Masbate instead of the original plan to remember him on his birthday.

Leni wanted the Jesse M. Robredo Day on the day of the crash to remember his loss rather than on his birthday on May 27, which is also the foundation day of the province of Camarines Sur that is being celebrated with the “Kaogma Festival (Happy Festival),” Bordado said on Saturday.

Bordado also confirmed the plan to put a marker to where Robredo’s plane crashed, in coordination with the city and provincial governments of Masbate.

The city officialdom believed it would be more appropriate to remember him on the day of the plane crash, during which time it was believed he and the plane’s two pilots, Capt. Jessup Bahinting and Nepalese Kshitiz Chand, perished. “Besides, [Aug. 21] is Ninoy Aquino Day,” Bordado added.

The city council also considered renaming the Naga City Institute of Good Governance, a World Bank-funded city government unit created when Robredo was mayor, to Jesse M. Robredo Institute of Good Governance.

Bordado said Leni had also offered to give to the city government Robredo’s memorabilia including books, documents, photos, citations, medals and trophies.