Leni, the reluctant newsmaker

 She was the typical suburban mom, driving her youngest pre-teen daughter to school in the morning and picking her up in the afternoon, keeping their home warm and happy for her husband’s weekend homecomings from his Manila job.A Though her husband held a ranking Cabinet post, she herself had still has no driver or bodyguard. Her daughter goes to a public school. In her simple home in Naga City, she keeps only one house help.

And now, she is a celebrity, albeit a reluctant one. Virtually the whole nation recognizes those deep-set soulful eyes and poised demeanor. Thrust into the limelight by the sudden death of her husband DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo, the continuous unfolding of his sterling achievements and the controversies following his death, the former Leni Gerona has found herself in the vortex of the news. Ironically, by not seeking the limelight, the limelight has sought her. Because of her credibility and transparency, the public’s collective stare is now transfixed on her.

The sudden attention is discomfiting, but not distracting, to Leni, whose focus on her three daughters Aika, Patricia and Jillian is laser-like. She says the three still text their Papa all the time. They are the main reasons she is “200 percent” sure she isn’t running for senator in the 2013 polls, despite a growing clamor for her to do so. Some have urged her to take up the mantle of servant leadership worn by her husband, comparing her to Cory Aquino after Ninoy’s death in 1983.

“During Cory’s time, she was the only unifying factor of the opposition. So she didn’t have an option but to run. She was the only one who had a fighting chance against Marcos. It’s different now. As I’ve said, there are so many contenders for the senatorial slate, but my children only have one mother,” she says, admitting to being “embarrassed” at the comparison to the late democracy icon.

“Right after the funeral,” Leni recalls, “my first mission was to bring my children back to their daily routine. I am happy they are coping rather well.”

 “Alam mo, ang hirap when I’m alone in the house. Tapos, my second daughter, si Tricia, who was Papa’s girl, would text me, ‘Ma, I super miss Papa na.’ It’s difficult because nandito ako sa Naga and she’s in Manila,” Leni told me during an exclusive interview at the Avenue Plaza Hotel in Naga City. Her eyes would well up at times, but she always kept her chin up. She remembers breaking down only once – on the Sunday after Jesse’s death, when her daughters Aika and Patricia arrived from Manila.

On their last Sunday together, Jesse and Leni agreed to travel more often with their children.

“Yun nga yung last na conversation namin. Sinasabi niya sa akin na matanda na siya. Sabi ko, ‘Hindi, 54 ka lang,’ says Leni, who is 47. She graduated from the School of Economics at UP Diliman just after the EDSA Revolution in 1986 (not 1987 as earlier reported), and the speaker during her graduation was no less than President Cory Aquino.

Leni recalls her husband was very excited about a work-related trip to Vienna this October. Since it was the children’s semestral break, he asked her to accompany him.

“You know, we seldom travel. I like to travel but my husband was always reluctant to travel because he did not want to leave his work behind. But in 2009, finally, he agreed that every year, we would travel. During Holy Week this year, we went to France and Italy. It’s as if in the past two years, we did everything on our bucket list.”

Since the children would not be with them in the Vienna trip, he told her, “I-plano mo na yung next year natin.”

He also told her he wanted a photo of himself in a yellow shirt published in a DILG supplement enlarged. She didn’t ask him the reason behind his request.

Today, that photo stands proudly by his tomb in Naga City.

***

Leni also shared glimpses of Jesse’s last moments on earth, as relayed to her by his aide, S/Insp. Jun Abrazado.

“Sabi ni Jun, moments before the crash, while I was still on the phone with Jesse, parang takot na takot na raw siya (Jun) and he kept on asking the pilot for updates. Pinagalitan daw siya nung asawa ko. Jesse would tell him, ‘Jun, hala, hayaan mo lang ang pilot kasi alam niya ang ginagawa niya’.”

Leni at the tomb of her husband, DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo.Photos by JOanne Rae Ramirez

Her husband was actually going over documents as the plane was already in distress.

“Hingi daw ng hingi sa kanya ng documents while the plane was in distress already. May hinahanap daw na babasahin, kasi nagbabasa ng mga papeles. Kasi hingi ng hingi ng documents, so ang ginawa ni Jun, kinuha daw niya yung bag in front at nilagay on his lap. Kaya sabi ni Jun, na-save daw siya ng bag niya. When he surfaced after the crash, half-awake, half-asleep, he saw his bag floating at doon siya kumapit.”

Leni last reached Jesse at 4:40 p.m. of Aug. 18.

According to her, Jesse said, “‘Ma, sandali lang, may inaasikaso lang ako, tawagan ulit kita.’ Those were his exact words. I said, ‘okay’.”

Abrazado told her that at that very moment, the plane was already going down.

Leni says Jesse had an injury on the forehead and that gives her hope that he had passed out before the plane reached the depths of the sea off Masbate.

“ I think noong bumulusok na yung plane, tumama siya, nawalan na siya ng malay,” she says.

There was one time during the excruciating hours after her husband’s plane went missing when Leni allowed herself a glimmer of hope. That was when a DILG official told her that Jun had survived the crash.

“Noong nalaman kong buhay si Jun, parang ang saya-saya ko. Kasi iniisip ko, kung buhay si Jun, baka buhay yung asawa ko. Mas malakas yung loob noon eh. Wala siyang takot because grabe ang faith niya. Hindi siya natatakot, kahit yung time na kinalaban niya ang jueteng, at ang daming mga threat. Kailangan lang talaga may security pero para sa kanya, unnecessary. Palagi niyang sinasabi na, ‘kung may gusto sa aking pumatay kahit may security, magagawa nila ‘yon’.” 

***

Twenty-five years ago, Jesse and Leni were wed at the Mary the Queen Church in Quezon City after a whirlwind courtship. They decided to fly to Baguio for their honeymoon. But at the last minute, they decided to postpone their trip and just honeymoon in Manila. They changed their mind because a plane had just crashed in the mountains outside the City of Pines and the newlyweds decided to play it safe.

But playing it safe was not characteristic of Jesse. He refused to live his life in fear. He soared. He became mayor of Naga City for six terms, and was honored by the Ramon Magsaysay Foundation for turning the city around with good governance. Leni shyly reveals: “Jesse often told me I was the wind beneath his wings.”

And that Leni is, till now.(You may e-mail me at [email protected].)