How many times in your life can you say that you’re “very sure” about something or someone?
Vice President Leni Robredo is one of the persons who knew, right from the moment she met him, that she’s going to marry her husband, the late former Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo.
Theirs was the stuff of fairytales. Robredo met Jesse in August of 1986 right after the EDSA People Power revolt. He started courting her in September that same year and by December, the former Naga City mayor was already asking for her hand in marriage. Robredo said her parents opposed it but Jesse was insistent, so they got married in June 1987.
So sure was the vice president about marrying Jesse that she didn’t even need to ask for a sign as most women do.
“Naalala ko the first time na sinabi niya na mag-asawa tayo, parang para sa akin sobrang sure ako, sobrang sure ako na ito na ‘yung taong gusto kong mapangasawa (I remember the first time he told me that we should get married, for me I was very sure, I was very sure that this is the person I want to marry),” she said in the “Usapang Pogi” series of the Jesse M. Robredo Foundation produced in commemoration of the former secretary’s life.
“Para walang pag-aalinlangan, wala ako pagdasal na bigyan mo ako ng sign kung siya na talaga. Wala. Parang, deep in my heart, alam ko ito yung gusto ko makasama (There’s no apprehension, I don’t need to pray for a sign that it’s really him. Nothing. It’s like, deep in my heart, I know he’s the one I want to be with),” Robredo added.
Jesse died on August 18, 2012 when the small plane carrying him crashed in the seas off Masbate. He left behind Robredo, who was then a human rights lawyer, and their three daughters—Aika, Tricia, and Jillian.
READ: Jesse Robredo as a father; his 3 daughters reminisce
Robredo never imagined that she would marry early because her ideal age to get married was 27, just like her mom. And yet, it was different with Jesse, she said.
They got married when she was only 22 years old, fresh out of college, and they had Aika when she was just 23 years old.
The two of them met when Robredo applied for a position at the Bicol River Basin Development Program, which Jesse headed back then.
He was unimpressed because she was carrying a recommendation letter from Jesse’s uncle, thinking it would give her an advantage over the others. But her husband was adamant that things should be different since the Marcos dictatorship was over.
Robredo remembered being surprised by Jesse’s principles.
READ: ‘He never left’: VP Leni, daughters mark Jesse’s 9th death anniversary
“Doon ako na-impress sa pagtingin ko sa gobyerno (That was when I was impressed with the government). Here was one person ayaw sundin ang dating gawi (who didn’t want to follow what’s been the old practice),” she said.
But though Jesse told her off about the recommendation letter, he was also impressed by an essay she wrote, so he hired her.
Less than a year after they got married, Jesse run for mayor of Naga City. The vice president was at first adamant that she will leave him if he enters politics, but he eventually earned her support.
The deal was to make the lives of their kids as normal as possible. Robredo said they were “very conscious” about that.
Despite being mayor, they also led a very simple life in Naga, living in an apartment and taking drives at night so Jesse can inspect the city he served for almost two decades before he was eventually appointed as interior secretary.