More than a month after former Interior and local government secretary Jesse Robredo was laid to rest, then President Benigno Aquino III penned a personal letter to his widow, now Vice President Leni Robredo. He wrote that she and her children “were a source of strength” and assured them that his door would remain open for them.
The letter was in response to the one sent by Robredo who thanked Aquino “for the many things (you) did for us during that most difficult time in our lives.”
The vice president posted a copy of his letter, written on official Malacañang stationery, on her Facebook account.
“You were a source of strength for us all; not only for those of us privileged to have worked with your husband in government, but for the nation. Our country, already united in grief, embraced you and your children in solidarity – and in turn, derived comfort from you, as all of us strove to come to terms with the loss of Jesse,” Aquino said.
In the letter, the late President also informed Robredo that Congress authorized him to confer on her husband the Quezon Service Cross, which is the highest award in government.
He said that only four Filipinos have received it so far: statesman Carlos P. Romulo, former President Emilio Aguinaldo, former President Ramon Magsaysay, and the President’s father, the late Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino II.
Aquino thanked Robredo for her letter, saying that she was “very kind for thanking me for the tributes and efforts made by the government to honor your husband.”
READ: How PNoy stood by Leni during Jesse’s death
“They were, however, poor substitutes for what we all felt, and continue to feel are his due. The man who serves with honor deserves the fullest honors. Not as consolation, not even as tribute. But as a challenge. By rendering honors, the republic we all aspire to nurture sets the bar higher for all who serve the country,” he said.
He told Robredo he will convey her appreciation to those who worked to find her husband, whose small aircraft crashed off the coast of Masbate on August 18, 2012.
The vice president promised that she will start sharing snippets of who Aquino was as a person and leader, as she deplored that the late President's legacy is being tarnished through fake news and misinformation.
READ: PNoy’s achievements need to be known by Filipinos — Robredo
In his his letter, the Aquino acknowledged that Jesse Robredo tried to achieve a balanced public and family life. He said Jesse wanted be a “strong, reliable presence” in his family while also trying to affect change and serving the country.
“And as your children grow and embark on their own lives, Jesse will always be there, because he was always there in every crucial step of your family’s growth,” he added.
Aquino then promised to be by Robredo’s side always, adding that they have more work to do “to achieve the reforms and changes Jesse believed in so deeply.”
“My door is always open to you,” he said in closing.
Aquino died peacefully in his sleep on June 24 due to renal failure secondary to diabetes. He was laid to rest beside his parents, democracy icons Corazon Aquino and Ninoy Aquino, at the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque.
A bachelor, he was survived by his four sisters—Ballsy, Pinky, Viel, and Kris.