We can all be Jesse Robredos

MANILA, Philippines - “Jesse was like a brother… he was a real brother,” says Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who still gets choked up remembering his predecessor, the late Sec. Jesse Robredo.

The two first met in the mid-90s, when Roxas was still a congressman. “He came into the mayorship fighting the old trapo (traditional politician) structure that was in place,” Roxas recalls. “He got the confidence of the CSOs, NGOs and people’s organizations. After he became mayor, he stuck with them. He did not just use them to win.”

Roxas describes himself as an “early believer” in Robredo, being one of those who supported Robredo’s studies when he received a partial scholarship at the Kennedy School at Harvard. “He was an outstanding guy, very innovative and creative in his governance. I really admired him because he walked the talk.”

The two worked closely during the last presidential campaign. “He was like the Energizer bunny… he just kept going and going and going,” says Roxas, who recalls Robredo wanting to visit every group and every meeting that they could. “He was so enthusiastic. He was always of good cheer, always optimistic, always upbeat... He was a task master, but with a smile.”

Roxas adds, “There are very few people in the world that you could say, if I had to be trapped in a foxhole with someone, it would be him… Jesse would be one of those that you would want with you. The President felt that way, other members felt that way about Jesse.”

Under the Aquino administration, the two did find themselves going to war together – fighting political and legislative battles. “You could always count on Jesse,” says Roxas. “He was a true believer in moving our country forward, in daang matuwid, in this brand of governance.”

Roxas recalls fondly some of the expressions Robredo often used. He would always say “Bago mawala sa isip ko (Before I forget)” as a very diplomatic way of changing the subject or making sure that certain points that he wanted to discuss were taken note of.

One of the things that Roxas admired most about Robredo was his commitment to his family. Robredo would often leave their meetings promptly at 6:30 to be there when his children got home to spend time with them. “Around 9 o’clock, he’d come back and join us for the meeting. That was really admirable,” says Roxas, adding with a smile that when Robredo rejoined the meeting, he was more relaxed and re-energized, having had a shower and wearing his signature tsinelas. “He was a loss, not just from a governance point of view, but from a personal point of view.”

Roxas remains in touch with the Robredo family, especially Rep. Leni and eldest daughter Aika, who works at the Office of Civil Defense.

Aika recently posted about Roxas and her father on her Instagram account: “Mama used to jokingly refer to Mar as Papa’s second wife. He was a regular breakfast date, whose name would often come up during dinner conversations along with the many stories of what it was like to be a part of P-Noy’s Cabinet…

“Papa had given me the impression that Mar was someone he could and would go to battle with, having known each other way back when Papa was still city mayor and Mar was DTI secretary. He was a Mar Roxas believer through and through. And Mar returned the favor by sticking to Papa until the very end.

“He was the very first Cabinet secretary who gave Mama a call when Papa’s plane was missing, who kept updating us on a regular basis during the search, and was also the first to let us know when it was found.”

Robredo surely left Roxas big shoes to fill at the DILG – “Big tsinelas to fill,” Roxas corrects us.

“One of the remarkable things about Jesse is the bureaucracy itself – the people he worked with were the ones who were quite enthusiastic about continuing his programs,” he says. “That this is really the brand of Jesse’s leadership, that even after he was gone, there were many people who found value in what he had started and I was very happy to continue and strengthen and broaden the initiatives that he had started.”

One of the legacies of Robredo’s short term was the Seal of Good Housekeeping. “Jess started it as a measure of financial housekeeping,” Roxas explains. “What’s good about this is it provided a set of behavior patterns that government would reward.” The Seal of Good Housekeeping established for local government units a clear set of actions that daang matuwid promotes, encourages and incentivizes.

Robredo concentrated on transparency and good financial management. The Seal of Good Housekeeping was given to LGUs who had no negative findings from the Commission of Audit; who posted publicly their budget and purchases; and had updated records on the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System website.

“Local governments could aspire to a code of conduct or behavior that would be supportive of daang matuwid,” says Roxas.

Under Roxas’ leadership, the Seal of Good Housekeeping was broadened to include disaster preparedness; becoming business-friendly by cutting red tape and implementing clear steps for getting business permits and the like; and social protection, including health and education, and caring for PWDs, elderly, street children and other marginalized sectors.

Robredo and Roxas at a press conference (top). Then-mayor Robredo and Balanga City engineer Noli Dizon welcome then-senator Roxas to Naga in 2008 (above).

We can all be Jesse Robredos,” Roxas says. This, for him, is the magic and message of Robredo’s life and his tsinelas leadership. “Jesse was a regular person with a wife and kids, who thought beyond himself, who wanted to make a difference for his kababayans and for his country. Tumutoo siya sa kanyang mga kababayan.”

Roxas adds, “It’s easy to glorify or iconize somebody like Jesse because he had so many sterling attributes. But I think the way that I would like to remember Jesse is that he was like any single one of us who did well, who wanted to help his community, who wanted to make a difference… who was true to his people. He left us so sadly, so early, but he left us in a place much better than how he found us.”