“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” ~Thomas Campbell
@marRoxas at 8:15 am is a bit emotional when he announced that Secretary Robredo was identified inside the fuselage wreck. At around 8:30, his body was lifted from the wreck and was placed in a body bag. The fuselage was found 800 meters to the shore and a depth of 180 feet.
My condolences to the families of Sec. Jesse Robredo and the two families of the pilot, Captain Jessup Bahinting and Nepalese flight student Kshitiz Chand.
Christina C. Langit in twitter said “We may have lost a good man today.. But his legacy of public service, done w/ integrity and humility, will always live one. #SalamatSecJesse”
Sec. @MARoxas “sad as it is, we are now in search and retrieval, let’s mark time – its 930″
Here is an email I received shortly after the news was shared by Sec. Mar Roxas
I had been praying that he survived the crash, just like millions of Filipinos did. But this morning, we lost the one honest and competent government official that this administration had.
I have never shed a tear for any government official or politician, not even during Ninoy Aquino’s death. But this morning, I shed tears for Sec. Robredo. I grieve for the many good things he could have done for the Filipinos.
He was 54 years old. May his soul be at peace and go straight to Heaven. May his family find comfort in the thought that he was a contemporary Filipino ‘hero’.
John Silva in Facebook , instead of being sadder, would rather dig up his memories of him.
I have more to say about this incredible man. I remember about eight years, in one of his speeches to Synergeia teachers and Mayors following his lead, he talked about “transparency.” I was quite impressed. The word was just coined, gaining currency among non-profits who then were not even identified as civil societies or good governance groups. Jesse articulated this word in conjunction with having the Naga City budget on a website so anyone could access and check who’s spending what. That was even more incredible. I mean, transparency to me still was a fashion term like gauzy or showing skin. This guy was saying something earth-shaking, like Where Your Taxes Are Going.
He didn’t suffer fools easily. He had little patience for Department of Education heads who were bureaucratic and turf oriented protecting teachers who were lazy and incompetent. He would relate stories of cleaning that area up at the expense of gaining enemies. He would push for a merits system for teachers if they got their students smarter. Naga’s students outperformed their peers in the country.
But he didn’t lace all his work saying it ” Was For The Filipino Children.” He wasn’t into advertising himself. It was a public duty. Interestingly enough, the Obama Administration later introduced the same merit system with its teachers just like Jesse’s formula. And I never heard him ever mention his Magsaysay Award or any of the numerous others he received.
…He taught Mayors and teachers about the education fund, how to get the PTA’s to wrestle the money from sports meets and spend it on teacher training and field trips to museums. He shamed those other mayors and became a model for using their authority and influence to make education work in their district.
The Robredo family lost a family man, a father and a husband. The families of the pilots (Captain Jessup Bahinting and Nepalese flight student Kshitiz Chand)
Tweeps share their condolences and give thanks to Sec. Robredo with the hashtag #SalamatSecJesse . You can also share thoughts, memories, and messages of sympathy for Robredo family through the tribute page for Sec. Jesse Robredo at www.gov.ph/salamatjesse.
Then check Jesse M. Robredo’s City Strategy and Governance: Naga City Experience after the storify.
Let me share Jesse M. Robredo’s City Strategy and Governance: Naga City Experience when he presented this on May 3, 2000, at the East Asia Urban and City Management Course in Singapore.
CIty Strategy and Governance: Naga City Experience by Jesse Robredo , May 3, 2000
Photo via John Silva in his facebook note
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