Robredo documents all safe with widow

MANILA, Philippines - All documents, “important or unimportant,” that were on Jesse Robredo’s desk at his condominium unit in Quezon City, valuable enough for a government lockdown and an alleged break-in attempt a day after the plane crash that killed him, are safe in the hands of his widow, Leni.

In an exclusive interview with The STAR at the Avenue Plaza Hotel in Naga City last Thursday, Leni said that a staff member of Jesse’s brought back to Naga early last week a box with all the documents on top of the desk the late Department of the Interior and Local Government secretary used at their Quezon City home.

“Kasi yung staff niya, nung papunta dito, tinatanong, ‘Tita, what do you want me to bring?’ Sabi ko, I don’t know what’s on his desk. Sabi ko, ‘Pwede bang yung lahat ng gamit sa desk niya iuwi mo. Important or unimportant, ilagay mo sa box (His staff said before coming here, what do you want me to bring? I said if it’s possible, put all that’s on his desk in a box and bring it home)’,” Leni, a lawyer, said.

“I did not open the box until yesterday, the other day pala (Tuesday, Sept. 4),” she added.

According to Leni, when she went over the contents of the box, what caught her attention was a brown envelope addressed to her with a listing of his bank accounts and insurance policies. The envelope was sealed with packing tape, over which he signed. There were no instructions in the event of his death, she said.

In a television interview, Leni said that her husband would discuss certain cases he was investigating with her, but on that piece of paper, there was no mention of them.

“Parang handa siya (it was as if he was prepared to die),” she said.

Leni says that she has passed on to authorities all work-related issues that have surfaced after the alleged attempt of certain police authorities led by DILG Undersecretary Rico Puno to enter their condominium. At the moment, she says she just wants to grieve in peace.

“I have not gone back to work yet. I am still in the process of tying all the loose ends that Jess left behind – that includes packing all his personal things from his three offices and going over all his stuff,” she told The STAR.

A confidante of Leni’s, who asked not to be named, said that after the widow referred last Aug. 19 the matter of the alleged attempt to search their condominium to Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman, she just left it at that and did not follow up its outcome.

She also has not lost her trust and confidence in President Aquino, who said in the sidelines of the APEC summit in Vladivostok that he had ordered Puno to secure the office of Jesse after the crash, says the confidante.

Leni said that the President and his Cabinet are sources of strength for her and her children Aika, Patricia and Jillian.

“We are made stronger because they assure us that they will continue taking care of us even when Jess is no longer around,” she said.