P-Noy, BFP men pay last respects to fallen DILG secretary

MANILA, Philippines - With a 19-gun salute and a shower of yellow confetti, President Aquino and his official family received yesterday the flag-draped casket containing the remains of the late Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo.

Hundreds lined the streets from Villamor Air Base to Malacañang to pay their last respects to Robredo.

Firemen from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) performed a “water salute” by forming a water arch along Roxas Boulevard under which the hearse carrying Robredo’s remains passed.

The President issued Proclamation 461 declaring Aug. 28, burial day of Robredo, a special non-working day in Naga City.

“We had water salute for Sec. Robredo. We usually do that during burial ceremonies as gesture of honoring the person. In this case, this is the highest form of rendering salute to our Secretary,” said Chief Inspector Renato Marcial, spokesman for the BFP-National Capital Region.

The BFP also gave the same water salute to the cortege of the late President Corazon Aquino along South Luzon Expressway on the way to the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City in August 2009.

Robredo as DILG secretary had control over the BFP, Philippine National Police (PNP), the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and local government units.

Robredo’s remains lie in state at Malacañang’s Kalayaan Hall until today.

From the Archbishop’s Palace in Naga City, Robredo’s coffin was carried to a waiting carriage for the short trip to the Naga City airport.

The plane carrying Robredo’s casket arrived around 11 a.m. at Villamor Airbase in Pasay City, where he was given arrival honors by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Six pallbearers – Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas II, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya, Harvey Keh of Kaya Natin Movement, Alice Murphy representing the urban poor and Joan de la Cruz representing the DILG – received the casket at the Villamor Air Base. Eight soldiers later took over the task of carrying Robredo’s casket to Kalayaan Hall in the Palace.

Aquino and other officials wore black armbands during the ceremonies.

Memorial services prepared by various groups were held in honor of the late secretary.

A Mass was scheduled for 6 p.m. after which people would be allowed to pay respects to Robredo up to 11 p.m.

A public viewing of Robredo’s remains is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today.

The late secretary served as mayor of Naga City for six terms from 1988 to 2010.

Government officials, legislators, dignitaries and friends flocked to Malacañang to pay their last respects to the late secretary, who died in a plane crash off Masbate on Aug. 18.

The government closely adheres to the protocol of the government of the United States for the conduct of state funerals. The president, former presidents, vice presidents, Senate presidents, speakers of the House, national artists and national scientists are entitled to a state funeral.

The President, as head of state and commander-in-chief, also has the prerogative to choose who will be given a state funeral. 

In Cebu City, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president and Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma said it was a privilege and honor to officiate a Mass for Robredo and the two pilots who died with him in the crash.

Palma, in a memorial Mass yesterday at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral Church, said Cebu should be proud because Robredo’s last act of public service took place in the city.

Robredo graced a groundbreaking activity of a training camp in Consolacion town and was the guest speaker during the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Community Investigative Support National Summit before he flew, supposedly to Naga, on a private plane on the day of the accident.

“I was touched when I learned that Secretary Robredo wanted to go home to his family. He’s indeed a family man,” the archbishop said.

“The fact that his wake was held at the Naga City Cathedral and knowing that the wife confesses three times a month shows their closeness to the church,” Palma added.

Palma said that Robredo and the two pilots have inspired millions of people and should continue to inspire more by remembering their good deeds.

“They do not have to die. They should continue to live in our hearts,” he said.

The archbishop also remembered Captain Jessup Bahinting as a good pilot.

He said he is privileged to have had a direct encounter with the pilot months ago when Bahinting and wife Margarita flew him to Limasawa where he officiated a Mass for the Fifth Centenary of the First Mass in Limasawa. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Jessica Ann Pareja/Freeman