Leni Robredo to retrace husband’s final moments on first death anniversary

Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – On the first anniversary of her husband’s untimely death, Camarines Sur Representative Leni Robredo will visit the site off Masbate where his plane crashed.

“I will retrace his steps. I will go to Cebu, I will go to Masbate,” she said on Wednesday at the launch of the Jesse Robredo Documentary in Miriam College in Quezon City Friday.

Her late husband, then Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, was killed in a plane crash off Masbate last August 18. His body was found after nearly three days of grueling search operations.

She added that they would lay flowers at the crash site.

“I haven’t been to the crash site so I requested everyone who helped in the recovery efforts to be there so I will have an opportunity to express gratitude to all of them,” she said.

She said she would not bring their three daughters to Masbate because it would be “all emotional” for them.

“I don’t even know if I can handle it,” she said.

On the day of the anniversary, however, Leni will be in Naga for a simple ceremony.

“I will be in Naga on the day of the anniversary because the people there are our family so we will be with them,” she said.

Leni confessed that she was still emotional, even a year after her husband’s death.

“I thought after one year I would be better but it seems I’m not. After his death I’ve been busy with a lot of things but now that almost everything is settled, the sadness is starting to sink in,” she said.

She said she was dealing with grief day by day. “I do not look at tomorrow. I do not look at yesterday. I think if I do that I will not be able to handle it. If I look ahead and then I realize he will not be there in the end, it’s sad. But if I only look at today then it isn’t so hard. I think what gives me strength is that I have to be strong for my children. I can’t afford to be weak because my children draw their strength from me,” she said.

Leni recalled that her husband had been “a constant presence” in their lives despite him being a public servant.

“He was a regular father, he was a regular husband. So even in the smallest things we get sad,” she said when asked what she misses the most about him.

“No two days are alike in my experience of grief. There are good days. There are bad days. I’m busy with my new responsibility but when you wake up you are lonely, when you go home at night you are lonely. Everyday is a roller coaster ride,” she said.

The Ateneo de Manila University- School of Governance together with Kaya Natin! Movement for Good Governance, Jesse Robredo Foundation, Physicians for Peace, Galing pook Foundation, Synergeia Foundation, Urban Poor Associates and the Dela Salle University’s Jesse Robredo Institute of Governance will organize various activities in line with the remembering the life of Secretary Robredo, which will be done throughout the month of August.

The Jesse Robredo Documentary was launched on Friday, and would be shown in selected universities. Harvey Keh of Kaya Natin said the documentary showed a “totally different side” of the late Interior Secretary, as it focused on Jesse as “a champion for public education reform and the marginalized sectors of society.”

“It’s been a year after his death and he is still remembered. These things immortalize not only his memory but also his contributions. This is a big thing for us. It’s very heartwarming that it’s not only us in the family who remember him,” he said.