What Robredo’s Tuesday would have been like

MASBATE CITY, Philippines – After spending the long weekend with his family in Naga City, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo was set to be picked up by his aide today, and together they will travel to Zamboanga and then to Basilan for an official function.

That was the plan.

On Tuesday, August 21, Robredo’s assistant Benjie Navea waited for his boss to be found in Masbate. It was more than two days since a plane carrying Robredo crashed. The Secretary and his two pilots – Jessup Bahinting and Kshitiz Chand – were found dead Tuesday morning.

“Surely, I miss my boss,” Navea told Rappler in an interview before Robredo’s body was recovered. “I will not leave until he is found. If it will be my last service to him, I am up for it. I told my wife I will stay here. She understands. My respect for him is there. I am so lucky I had a boss like him.”

Robredo’s assistant was used to being with his boss every day, Monday to Friday, from 7:30 in the morning until he drops off the Secretary at his Manila home by 9 p.m.

“Second father ko na iyan at idol ko, maayos, dedicated sa trabaho.” (He’s my second father, my idol. He works well, he is so dedicated to his job.)

Navea describes the 54-year-old Robredo as a good boss, a family man, and even an occasional joker.

The assistant said Robredo just wanted to come home for his family.

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– Rappler.com