JESSE ROBREDO: ICON OF GOOD GOVERNANCE AND SINCERE PUBLIC SERVICE (An Essay)

Public service is one of the most hardest yet most fulfilling duties a person could do. Serving your subordinates is a nice way to show your concern and love for them. A person who does a sincere public service works does not mind his being superior to his constituents. In spite of being in a position in any organizations or even in the government, he still manage to live his life as simple as his countrymen do.

Whenever we hear the term public service, many names of different famous persons come to our mind. But, there is one great person that makes himself an icon of good governance and sincere public service. I am talking about the late Jesse M. Robredo, secretary of the Interior and Local Government.

Who is Secretary Jesse M. Robredo? What makes him an icon of good governance and sincere public service? Let's take a glimpse of the life and legacy of Secretary Jesse Robredo.

Born Jesse Manalastas Robredo on May 27, 1958 in Naga City, Camarines Sur. Third to five children of Jose Chan Robredo Sr. and Marcelina Manalastas. He was a second-generation Chinese-Filipino.

Robredo first attended Naga Parochial School, a private Catholic school in Naga for his elementary education. He then studied in Ateneo de Naga University for his secondary education in 1970 until September 21, 1972 when President Marcos declared Martial Law. The administrators of the Ateneo de Naga warned its students from participating in different anti-government activities that would result to the school's risk of closure.

He obtained his undergraduate degrees in Industrial Engineering and Mechanical Engineering from the De La Salle University in Manila. He was an Edward Mason Fellow and a graduate of Master of Public Administration at John F. Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University in Massachusetts in 1999. In 1985, he obtained his Masters in Business Administration from the University of the Philippines - Diliman.

He worked for San Miguel Corporation in Mandaluyong City in 1988. From being assigned to the Physical Distribution Technical Services of the General Services Division, within six months, Robredo had hurdled two of the three levels in the division and was then sent to the finance division for another six months. He was transferred to Magnolia Ice Cream and then assigned to logistics planning and concurrently, he functioned as staff assistant to the physical distribution director.

He began entering politics in 1988 when he ran and eventually won the Mayoral position of Naga City. HE helped the city in becoming one of the "Most Improved Cities in Asia," as cited by Asiaweek Magazine in 1999.

Because of his outstanding performance as a public servant, he received various awards and recognitions. Some of these awards given to him are the following: 2000 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service (known to be Asia's version of the Nobel Prize) for his good governance, 1998 Konrad Adenauer Medal of Excellence as Most Outstanding City Mayor of the Philippines, Junior Chamber International (JCI) 1994 Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World (TOYP) Honoree, Junior Chamber of the Philippines (JCI-Philippines) 1990 The Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM), and the first ever "Dangal ng Bayan" Award of the Civil Service Commission. In March 2008, Robredo was conferred an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree by the Far Eastern University in Manila.

  

He was appointed by President Benigno Aquino III as the secretary of the Interior and Local Government.

On August 18, 2012, he boarded a Pipa Seneca airplane from Cebu City going to Naga City to attend to his child's swimming competition. The pilot of the plane decided to have an emergency landing in Moises R. Espinosa Airport due to a discovered machine turbulence. Because of this, the plane crashed off the shores of Masbate Island. His aide survived the plane crash. Unfortunately, he and the two pilots did not. Search and retrieval operations were conducted by various government agencies headed by the Philippine Coast Guards, along with the Philippine Army, Philippine Air Force, the local government of Masbate and some concerned local and international divers.

In August 21, 2012, at exactly 8:15 A.M. (PHT), three days after the aircraft disaster happened, DOTC Secretary Mar Roxas confirmed that the body of Secretary Robredo was found. According to the secretary, the remains of Secretary Robredo was found 800 meters (2,600 feet) off Masbate at 54 metres (180 feet) deep.

Because of this unexpected event that took place, the entire Filipino nation mourned for the loss of a great sincere public servant. Secretary Robredo showed to the world that being a politician does not make you superior to everyone. Rather, he showed to us that being a public servant is just one of many possible things to show your care and love to others. 

Let us remember him as a person who dedicated himself for the service of the Filipino people. "Public servants are made to serve, not to be served," just as Secretary Jesse Robredo had said during one of his speeches.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Robredo)