I hardly know the man but DILG Secretary Robredo has made
quite an impact in the lives of each and every Filipino and his loss left many
Filipinos grieving, including me.
Tuesday, August 21 when Sec. Robredo’s body was recovered
from the sea inside the hull of the plane. It was a sad confirmation of the sad
and tragic fate of a man admired for his good governance. When news came out
that the Seneca plane carrying the
secretary last Saturday, August 18 crashed in the sea near Masbate, many prayed
that he survived the crash. But that day, only his aide Senior Insp. June
Abrazado made it alive when he was able to unbuckle his seatbelt and was thrown
off the plane . Later he was found and saved by local fishermen. The Philippine
Coast Guard and volunteer divers immediately mounted a search and rescue operation
starting Saturday, yet with the passing of hours, turned to days, the chance of
seeing Sec. Robredo again alive was becoming slimmer, rather hopeless.
While the search and rescue operation is ongoing, rumors
that the secretary was alive spread like wildfire over in twitter and facebook.
I read a number of those tweets and statuses. But nobody ever confirmed this.
On Tuesday morning, Department
of Transportation and Communications Secretary, Mar Roxas confirmed otherwise. The body of the secretary was recovered at the sea 180-feet deep, 800 meters from the seashore of
Masbate. It was a very sad news. Even if I am currently thousands of miles
away from the Philippines, the sadness in my hometown rippled to me so fast
through twitter and facebook.
Everyone expressed their sadness and grief.
I am just one of the
Filipinos who feel a sad loss for the demise of Secretary Robredo. I could not
imagine how hard it is for his family or for the people who knew him
personally. No amount of words can appease the grieving hearts of these people
who just lost a loved one so suddenly.
One can’t help but ask how can a good man die so young and
so tragic? But as they say, people do not choose the date on when to
die, or the manner how. Life is fleeting. Though sometimes we wish for some evil men to die first
and good men to live longer, but death just doesn’t choose who and when to
strike. That ill-fated day of August 21,
death came to our dear secretary and the two pilots.
Sec. Robredo’s 54 years of existence was a life well-lived. We would always remember him as the great man who taught and practiced good governance and a real public servant and even if he's gone, we will never forget him..
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