Robredo, daughters celebrate Father’s Day without Jesse


Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday, June 20, remembered her husband, the late Interior secretary Jesse Robredo, in a photo taken of them the last time they celebrated Father’s Day together.

Vice President Leni Robredo remembers her husband, the late Interior secretary Jesse Robredo, on Father’s Day. (VP Leni Robredo/Facebook)

“Father’s Day Lunch in 2012. Our last together,” Robredo said in the caption of the photo she posted on her Facebook page.

The photo showed the couple with the former Naga City mayor’s arm around the vice president as she leaned on him.

His death left behind the vice president, who was then a human rights lawyer in their hometown of Naga City, and three daughters—Aika, Tricia, and Jillian.

The vice president celebrated Father’s Day also by giving away another set of bicycles to construction workers, security guards, and utility workers.

“It was such a joy to listen to their stories of struggle and inspiration,” she said in a separate post.

Construction workers and security guards receive bicycles from the Office of the Vice President on Father’s Day. (OVP photo)

The Robredos’ eldest, Aika, also remembered her father in an Instagram post that showed her parents on one of their trips abroad.

Aika posted a photo of the vice president and her late father during their 25th wedding anniversary in 2012. She described them as the “best tag team.”

This was two months before the tragic passing of Jesse when the small aircraft carrying him crashed off the coast of Masbate in August of the same year.

“A favorite photo from my parents’ 25th wedding anniversary in 2012, when they wanted to celebrate by going on a family trip,” she said, adding that her parents would have celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary a week from today.

“And this is what they do best — they make everything about us. It is a kind of love that is always present and supportive in every way imaginable,” the younger Robredo added.

The photo showed the couple squatting down in an unidentified street abroad while taking photos presumably of their daughters who took the trip with them. Both of them were holding digital cameras in the photo.

“Today, we celebrate fathers and father figures. We have both in Papa and Mama (two heart emojis). Happy Father’s day sa lahat ng mga tatay at tatay-tatayan to all the fathers and father figures!” Aika said.