Video: Atty. Leni Robredo recalls her last communication with Sec. Robredo

Atty. Leni Robredo, recalls his last communication with Sec. Robredo

“On a regular basis, nag-uusap kami mga 10 times, 20 times a day. Pero that particular Saturday pero halos na-doble yun. He was flying to Cebu while meron naman kaming okasyon.”

“Kung ano yung nangyayari sa okasyon, I will update him..tatawag siya… all throughout the day ganun yung tenor ng aming usapan. He wants to be home.”

“But at 2pm, sabi ko tapos na, wala ka nang maaabutan. So he knew wala na siyang aabutan.”

“I thought hindi na siya tutuloy but then a staff member of his told me, na tutuloy pa rin siya.”

“It was not very unusual kasi tuwang-tuwa siya pag nasu-sorpresa kami. Yung akala namin hindi siya dadating pero dadating siya.”

“But I texted 3:15 pm, sabi ko pa ‘tutuloy ka daw pala.’ Ang sagot niya ‘yes boarded na.’Sabi ko ‘ha, boarded ka na?’ Sabi niya, ‘take your time’ kasi I drive the car, sinusundo ko siya sa airport.”

“I left the house about 3:40 in the afternoon. I drove to Naga Airport in Pili, just as I reach the airport, nag-text siya, sabi niya ‘balik ang plane sa Cebu.’ So I asked him: ‘Bakit?’ But he did not answer me. Instead, he replied again, ‘Balik ang plane sa Cebu.'”

“I was waiting for his instructions if I would wait for him at the airport or if I would go home muna then just come back pero hindi ko siya ma-contact.”

“I was trying to call him up so instead, I decided to go home, I texted him: ‘Tawag ako ng tawag sayo, hindi ka sumasagot.’ And he answered: ‘Mahirap kasi ang signal.'”

“When I reach home, 4:40 pm, I was finally able to contact him…he answered, sabi niya sa akin: ‘Ma, sandali lang may inaasikaso ako, tawagan na lang kita.'”

“In a very calm voice, it was as if I was calling him while he was in the middle of the meeting tapos sasabihin niya sa akin tatawagan na lang kita. So I told him, ‘Okay.’ Hinayaan ko na yun. I didn’t call him again kasi I thought for a fact na nag-land sila safely in Cebu and kaya siya busy because he was trying to find tickets in a commercial flight.”

“Pero about 15 minutes after, mga 5:00 siguro, 4:55 to 5:00, his security in Manila called me up: ‘Mam, nakausap mo ba si sir?'”

“‘Oo, 5 minutes ago, baka 10 mins.'”

“Pero apparently it was 15-20 mins na. Tapos sabi ko ‘Bakit?,’ tapos sinabi na niya: ‘A few minutes ago, he [Robredo] called me up, asking for help na i-clear yung Masbate airport because they were going to make an emergency landing…'”

“May sightings daw of plane na nag-crash sa dagat. Hindi pa nagsi-sink in sa akin. So sabi ko, sina Jesse kaya yun? Sabi ni Paul, ‘Siguro Ma’am hindi naman, sana Ma’am hindi naman.'”

“Pero when I put my phone down, naisip ko na na baka siya na nga yun. I told my youngest daughter first, I told her: ‘Let us pray because something might have happened to Papa’s plane.’ She was already crying. I decided to call up Aika. I told her what happened, she left the game, picked up her sister and they went to church.”

“Dumating si Mayor Bongat and the city council until andami ng tao sa bahay. Everyone was hoping that he would be okay pero ako, after the first night I knew that he was gone.”

This is the question and answer portion:

Photo via Inquirer.net