PHNO-SB: JESSE'S WIDOW '200 % SURE' SHE WON'T RUN FOR SENATOR

JESSE'S WIDOW '200 % SURE' SHE WON'T RUN FOR
SENATOR

[PHOTO -Leni Robredo
is shown in Naga City yesterday. MAU AGUASIN]
NAGA CITY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012 (PHILSTAR) By Joanne Rae Ramirez – Lawyer
Leni Robredo says that at present, she is "200 percent" certain she will not run
for senator in the 2013 elections despite a growing clamor for her to run under
the Liberal Party, the party of her late husband DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo.

"Maybe if it is the only way to keep my husband's legacy alive," she told The
STAR in an exclusive interview at the Avenue Hotel in this city. "But over the
years, I have always been a firm believer that one does not have a monopoly of
good intentions or capabilities."
Leni says not even a million signatures urging her to run for senator will
change her mind because she believes that unlike Corazon Aquino (who was the
commencement speaker when she graduated from the School of Economics at the
University of the Philippines-Diliman in 1987) in the snap polls of 1986, she is
not the unifying factor in the senatorial elections of 2013.
"Besides, I feel like I will just be capitalizing on my husband's popularity
if I run for office," she added.
Leni has retained the composure that won admiration for her in the aftermath
her husband's plane crash. But her eyes welled up when she revealed that just
yesterday, she received a sealed brown envelope addressed to her. Over the tape
that sealed the envelope was Jesse Robredo's signature.
In it was a piece of paper detailing all of Jesse's bank accounts and
insurance policies.
"That was Jesse, a planner and a provider till the end," says Leni.
Leni believes her husband's death was an accident, and is consoled by what
she saw when she viewed his remains in the body bag.
"He was in a seating position, his arms resting as if on arm rests, not
crossed in front his upper body. I have a feeling he didn't realize they were
going to crash because he already saw the runway, according to his aide."
She is grateful for being in the shortlist for regional trial court judge of
the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).
"Jesse and I thought that if I get appointed and eventually decide to
transfer to Manila, it would be easier to request for a transfer. I have been
waiting for the JBC shortlist for a long time. I submitted my application August
of 2011 and I was interviewed last Feb. 22. It is just unfortunate that when the
list came out, Jess was no longer around to celebrate with me."
She says she will endorse and campaign for the Liberal Party candidates in
Naga that she knew her husband approved of.
"Some people think my endorsement means something these days," she says
shyly.
Leni visits her husband's tomb almost everyday. She is happy and surprised
that many still come to pay their respects to him almost a month after his
death.
Jesse was cremated, and his ashes entombed.
But she has kept some of his ashes, and they are in four lockets – for her
and her three children Aika, Patricia and Jillian.
If she were to see him in a dream, what would she tell her husband of 25
years?
"We are okay, Jesse. We are okay. Rest now," she smiles, saying Jesse would
not have approved of her tears.





Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi

© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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