VP Leni Robredo says death of husband Jesse a ‘test of faith’

Vice President Leni Robredo on Saturday recalled the events that surrounded the death of her husband, Jesse Robredo, which she said was a “test” of her faith.

On August 18, 2012, the then Interior and Local Government Secretary was on his way home to Naga from a conference in Cebu when his small plane crashed in the sea near the coast of Masbate province.

Jesse's aide, Don Abrasado, survived the crash, but Robredo's fate and the two pilots of the four-seater Piper Seneca plane was uncertain. Robredo and the two pilots were initially considered missing.

"There were a lot of false hopes. Nahanap na [daw] ‘yung katawan, et cetera et cetera. Pero ‘yun ‘yung sa akin test of faith eh. ‘Yung faith du’n na kagustuhan ng Diyos na you don’t question," Robredo said as she shared her story during the 53rd annual members meeting of the Philippine Bible Society.

"Napakahirap niya in a sense that my husband was only 54, tapos our youngest was 12 at that time."

Leni said she felt the need to be strong for her children at that time.

"Mabilis masyado ang nangyari. Ewan ko kung tama rin, kasi ‘yung iba are of a different school of thought. Pero sabi kasi ng iba it is okay to show weakness in front of the children. But that was not how I felt at that time."

"Ang tingin sa akin ng mga anak ko, I'm in control ng lahat ng nangyayari. And his body was not found in three days."

The vice president said that two days into the search for her husband, she sensed that he was already gone.

"‘Yung first two days, ‘yung prayer mo, 'Sana mahanap pa nang buhay. After a series of false hopes, I felt that he was already gone. Pero siyempre hindi mo ‘yun sasabihin ‘di ba? Kasi kahit ‘yung supporters were still clinging to the hope na sana buhay pa siya."

“Pero ako nandu’n na ako sa dasal na kung nasaan man siya, sana okay siya.”

Robredo recalled that on August 20, then President Benigno Aquino III headed to Naga to head the search for Jesse’s body.

She recalled that Noynoy had expressed his hope that Jessie's body had not fallen into the deepest part of the ocean, where no search could me made.

On August 21, 2012, it was then announced that Jesse's body was found at 8:15 a.m., 800 meters from the shore of Masbate.

"‘Yung sa akin, parang ‘yung faith du’n, ‘yon."

“Siyempre magtatanong ka kung bakit. Pero ang pagtanong mo, asking kung ano ang mensahe, hindi ‘yung pagtanong na pagsumbat."

Robredo said that she explained to her children that "this is the best way to die" because Jesse was recognized by the public after his death.

In September of 2015, the Liberal Party had formally asked Leni, who was then Camarines Sur Representative, to be the running mate of its presumptive standard bearer, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas II, for the 2016 elections.

After a tough fight with her closest rival, Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., Robredo won the vice presidency on May 2016, finishing with 14,418,817 votes while Marcos had 14,155,344. — DVM, GMA News