ShareThis
by Rodel Rodis
September 1, 2011
Just today, I received a long-distance phone call from Naga City from Felix Antero, a long-time friend who had worked in my San Francisco office as a rookie lawyer and who was now legal counsel to a multi-national corporation in Denmark. When he learned of the August 18n death of Jesse Robredo, Philippine Secretary of the Interior and Local Government, Felix immediately booked a flight from Copenhagen to Manila to attend the funeral of his hero.
Felix reported that thousands of people thronged the final funeral service of Robredo in Naga City and each of the thousands of attendees had a personal story to tell of how Robredo, who served 18 years as mayor of Naga, had helped each of them in one way or another and how much his death was a deep personal loss to each of them.
Felix came from a poor family in Naga City and he was inspired to attend college on a scholarship – as Robredo did – and pursue a legal career because of Mayor Robredo. He said his brother lives beside the simple unassuming home of the Robredo family. He recalled the time his mother suggested to the Robredos that they purchase a new refrigerator because the one they were using was too old already.
The Robredos told his mother that it was still working and so there was no need to change it. The man was as honest and decent as you could ever hope to find in a public servant anywhere in the world.
When Felix was still in law school and working as a law clerk in my office, he talked of Robredo as his living inspiration. I checked Robredo out in the Internet and learned that he became mayor of Naga at the age of 29 after obtaining a Masters in Business Administration from the University of the Philippines in Diliman and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University.
When Robredo was elected in 1988, he was the youngest mayor in Philippine history. He served a total of 19 years as Naga City mayor before being appointed on July 9, 2010 as Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Goverment (DILG). During his time as mayor, Robredo transformed Naga City from being dull and lethargic to being one of the “Most Improved Cities in Asia,” as cited by Asiaweek Magazine in 1999.
Robredo received a total of 14 Galing Pook Foundation awards for “dramatically improving stakeholdership and people participation in governance, in the process restoring Naga to its preeminent position as premier city of the Bicol Region.”
In 1995, in recognition of his skills and competence as a leader and development manager, Robredo was elected President of the League of Cities of the Philippines, the national association of city mayors. In 2000, Robredo received the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for government service, the first Philippine mayor to receive the award.
Although he was appointed by Pres. Aquino as acting DILG Secretary, his appointment was denied senate confirmation three times because of the lobbying against him by Bicol political overlords Luis Villafuerte and Luis Ortega, who opposed his reformist agenda.
Sen. Vicente Sotto, chair of the Senate Commission on Appointments, offered to posthumously confirm Robredo’s appointment.
Robredo in death received honors reserved only for former presidents including receiving the Philippine Legion of Honor award. The president even offered to bury him in the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Burial) in Manila but the family declined and opted to bury him in his beloved city.
My friend, Greg Macabenta, wrote a poem for Jesse that paraphrased William Shakespeare’s immortal eulogy of Julius Cesar by Mark Anthony. Below are excerpts.
Friends, Pinoys, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I have come to bury Jesse, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones.
But ‘tis not so with Jesse.
I knew him not, except from news reports,
And how in death they heap much praise on him
For honesty, hard work and competence.
And yet, this Jesse, the Commission thrice
Rejected when his chance for confirmation came;
While Noynoy kept him in an acting role.
Was this his just reward for excellence?
He wrought improvements at DILG,
Whose vile corruption everyone knows well.
Did this in Jesse show incompetence?
When other politicians stole, Jesse just worked.
Incompetence is made of lesser stuff.
Offered a hero’s burial in a sacred spot
Which Ferdinand E. Marcos still has not.
But friends and family in Naga wait
To bury Jesse in his native soil,
Where Jesse poured his skills and all his toil,
Before the limelight did his name despoil.
Listen while politicians and the pundits speak
Of such outstanding qualities that Jesse had,
Which they themselves had chosen to ignore
When he was yet alive to hear them roar.
In death he gets these honors on his tomb;
Ah, Jesse, Jesse, squirm not in your grave;
Beloved Naga longs for your return.
And there, deserving love and honors wait.
Let not the Epals spoil your final rites,
While your dear wife and kids in silence weep.
In life you never ever asked for much.
Grateful Nagueños give you all in death.
(Send comments to Rodel50@gmail.com or mail them to the Law Offices of Rodel Rodis at 2429 Ocean Avenue at 2429 Ocean Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94127 or call 415.334.7800).