Leni Robredo admits she still gets emotional over husband Jesse’s death

Almost three years after former Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo died in a plane crash, his widow, Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo, admits she’s still coming to terms with his loss.

At the book launch of “Matino at Mahusay: Best Practices of Jesse Robredo” Wednesday, the neophyte lawmaker admitted even simple things such as seeing a video of her late husband gets her emotional.

“Grabe pa din [‘yung impact],” Robredo told reporters as she recalled how she and some of her fellow politicians from Naga, were overcome by emotion upon watching a video of Jesse speaking about governance at the event.

“Nag-usap-usap kami ng mga kasama ko. Na-realize namin parang hindi pa pala kami ready para panoorin ‘yung kanyang mga videos. ‘Yung nakikita namin ang kanyang mga pictures—that’s something we’ve gotten used to already. Pero pag video kasi, parang nandyan siya,” she said.

While admitting that getting over her husband’s death is difficult, Robredo said she is determined to honor the esteemed late politician by promoting and sharing his lessons on leadership.

“Hindi namin kami pwedeng mag-wallow in grief. Mas maho-honor namin siya kung gagawa kami ng paraan para maipagpatuloy ‘yung lessons na naiwan niya,” she said.

More useful

Jesse died in August 2012 after a small plane carrying him and an aide crashed in the sea near the coast of Masbate province. He was en route to Naga from a conference in Cebu when the accident occurred. He and the plane's two pilots were killed; the aide survived.

Leni decided to run for Congress due to the sudden public clamor that emerged after her husband died. She won by a landslide against Nelly Villafuerte, wife of former Camarines Sur Representative Luis Villafuerte.

“Matino at Mahusay” details the innovative governance programs Jesse introduced during his 18-year stint as mayor of Naga City. It documents and presents his methods leading and serving his constituents, particularly how he transformed the city into a competitive hub from a third-class local government unit.

Although Jesse had published two books on good governance during his lifetime, Robredo believes “Matino at Mahusay” will be more useful for public officials and those interested in learning about leadership because it discusses the philosophy behind Jesse’s actions, as well as the challenges he faced in leading Naga City.

"Para sa amin, mas useful ito... Ang palagay namin, dahil mas readable siya at simpleng-simple ang pagkakasulat, mas maa-appreciate siya ng readers," she said.

The Jesse Robredo Foundation and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, which worked together to produce the book, plan to distribute copies of the book for free to local government officials, as well as to colleges and universities.

Leadership lessons in college

There are also plans for Jesse’s leadership lessons to be integrated into the tertiary institution’s curriculum through a subject to provide students with the opportunity to learn about good governance at a young age.

“Malaking bagay na ma-introduce [yung leadership lessons] sa schools dahil ito ‘yung pinaka-effective na avenue para matutunan ito ng kabataan dahil mas malaki ang reach [ng schools],” she said.

Although there are no plans to put the book up for sale, the publishers are eyeing to release an e-book version so it can be downloaded by readers worldwide.

Robredo hopes her husband’s leadership lessons will inspire other government officials to govern well and effect change in their respective localities.

"'Yung libro kasi, hindi lang puro kwento, kundi nandito 'yung lessons kung paano nagawa [ni Jesse] yung kanyang mga programa... It is meant to inspire others na kung [itong mga programa] nagawa ng asawa ko noon, walang dahilan kung bakit hindi ito magagawa ng iba," she said. — BM, GMA News