Vice President Robredo’s Last Days in Office: A Diary

Robredo delivered her speech during the 74th Recognition Ceremonies of the University of Nueva Caceres, where she finished her law degree in 1992. Robredo also received the Outstanding Bicolano Award from the UNC General Alumni Association.

“We live in extraordinary times full of extraordinary challenges. You have just completed yet another year of your education under the grip of a pandemic; the transition to new modes of learning has been challenging, to say the least – not just for students, but for teachers, staff, and parents as well.

“On top of this, it feels like everywhere else we look, other challenges abound: We see our institutions weakening. We see disinformation, historical revisionism on overdrive. We see inequality widening, gaps in our basic needs remaining unfulfilled, the strain in the social fabric stretching even more tautly, putting so many on edge. UNC has provided you with the training and values to rise to these challenges head-on,” Robredo told the graduates.

Several Camarines Sur councilors also took their oaths before Robredo: Joel Abante of Canaman, Michael Bordado of Calabanga, and Jonas Soltes of Tinambac. 

Robredo continued to administer oaths of several local officials. In Magarao – the Camarines Sur town where the outgoing she now resides – several officials took their oaths before Robredo: Mayor Philip Salvador Señar, Vice Mayor Randy Villaralbo, and councilors Santy Estefani, Thomas de Vera, Edmund Aldrin Bediones, Carlos Sambo, Teresita Blasa, Bernadette Monit, Antonio Rubio, Jr., and Gavino Almazar Jr.

She then attended the 30th founding anniversary of Lakas ng Kababaihan, the women empowerment NGO she co-founded in Naga City long before she entered politics.

Lakas ng Kababaihan helped create sustainable livelihood programs led by women entrepreneurs in different parts of Camarines Sur. It’s one of the many reasons why Nagueños admire Robredo.

In the evening, Robredo reunited with her high school batch mates from the Unibersidad de Sta. Isabel, many of whom were among her most dedicated campaigners during the 2022 elections. 

The Isabelinas gave Robredo the “Modern Isabel” award. Her childhood friend Sieg Borromeo wrote in a Facebook post that their high school batch recognizes Robredo as a “beacon of Elizabethan ideals of charity in action, and love in its most inclusive form.”

It was also a memorable night for Robredo because she was reunited with Ambe Francisco, a waiter who had served Leni and Jesse way back in 1990 when the first Biggs restaurant opened in Naga. Thirty-two years later, Francisco also served Robredo during her thanksgiving event with her high school batch mates. 

“He showed me his phone and his wallpaper was this first pic from many years ago. Ang happy lang…. Sayang (What a happy coincidence. Too bad) we couldn’t recreate the exact one because Jess is no longer with us,” said Robredo. 

Robredo administered the oath-taking of local officials in her hometown Naga City. The activity coincided with the 74th Charter Day celebration of Naga. This was among the reasons why Robredo would not able to fly to Davao City to attend the inauguration of her successor Duterte the next day. 

In her speech before Nagueños, Robredo expressed concern over alleged cases of vote buying in their province. Robredo’s late husband, longtime mayor-turned-interior and local government chief Jesse Robredo, had advocated for transparency in government. 

It’s an advocacy that the Vice President continued when she entered politics for the first time as Camarines Sur congresswoman in 2013, a year after Jesse’s tragic plane crash death.

“I will be honest with you: I was really worried in the past elections. Many people noticed there was an attempt to once again use money to influence the polls. I always make this call: Let us take care of our beloved city, especially for the next generations,” said Robredo in Bicol.

“We are lucky because many of our constituents continue to stand for what is right. But what is worrisome is that attempts like this still happen, that if we do not stay vigilant, we might not notice the sudden return of the kind of politics that we have shunned in Naga a long time ago,” she added. 

Robredo received the Golden Peacock Award for Excellence from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce Philippines Inc. (FICCI), one of the Angat Buhay program partners.

FICCI president Rex Daryanani said Robredo was the “epitome of pure love and service” for Filipinos. 

The outgoing Vice President then administered the oath of Councilor Zoilo Bernardo Tubianosa of Sibalom, Antique, and other newly elected officials.

Robredo met with convenors of the Alab Para Kay Leni and members of Net Army Para sa Bahay to discuss future partnership for the Angat Buhay NGO.

Robredo administered the oath of several local officials:

● Councilor Jo Jan Peñol of Pavia, Iloilo
● Councilor Jon Tobit Cruz of Taytay, Rizal
● Provincial Board Member Cynthia Angelica Bacurnay of La Union 2nd District
● Vice Mayor Henry Bacurnay Jr. of Bauang, La Union
● Councilor Danilo Abuan of Bauang, La Union

Robredo met with Swedish Ambassador to the Philippines Annika Thunborg, thanking the latter for Sweden’s assistance to the Angat Buhay program.

The Swedish embassy donated temporary shelters for frontlines and hospitals, as well as COVID-19 vaccines for communities. The embassy also donated household equipment and items for residents of the Angat Buhay Village in Marawi City. Sweden also partnered with the OVP for the Respeto Naman campaign against gender-based violence. 

In the evening, Robredo personally thanked all the medical and non-medical professionals who volunteered in the OVP’s free teleconsultation service Bayanihan E-Konsulta in their fathering at  the University of the Philippines’ Ang Bahay ng Alumni in Quezon City. 

The free telemedicine program benefitted some 58,000 patients with the help of 947 doctors and 1,761 call and chat agents. 

“With Bayanihan E-Konsulta, na-prove natin na kapag nagkaisa tayo, sobrang dami nating magagawa ‘di ba? Kahit sobrang hirap ng task ahead, ito ‘yung pagpapakita na kapag meron tayong resolve na gumawa, na mag-take action, kayang-kaya natin basta lahat nag-aambagan,” said Robredo.

(With Bayanihan E-Konsulta, we proved that when we work together, we can do so much, right? Even if the task ahead was so difficult, we were able to show that as long as we have the resolve to take action, we can make it possible.)

In her final Independence Day speech as vice president, Robredo called on Filipinos to assert truths about Philippine history.

The Vice President also went back to co-hosting her radio show Biserbisyong Leni together with broadcaster Ely Saludar on RMN DZXL. Robredo took a hiatus from her radio show duties during the grueling 2022 campagin period. 

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Robredo delivered the commencement speech during the graduation rites at the Philippine Science High School-Main Campus. She told the graduating batch to live by their alma mater’s core values of excellence, integrity, and service to the nation. 

“Ito ang panawagan: Na ang kakayahan, itutok sa kapakanan ng kapwa, lalo na ng kapwa Pilipino. Maraming mahuhusay at matatalinong tao ang tumutugon kapag tinawag na maglingkod; ang hamon sa inyo, huwag nang hintayin pang matawag. Kayo na mismo ang maghanap ng landas, tumukoy ng mga puwang na dapat punan, tumungo sa laylayan, at doon maglingkod,” said Robredo.

(The is the call: Focus your skills on helping others, especially your fellow Filipinos. There are many excellent and brilliant people who respond to this when they are called to do so; the challenge for you is act without having to be called to do so. You should forge your own paths, look for the gaps that must be filled, go to the margins of society, and serve there.)

The outgoing Vice President was joined by her youngest daughter Jillian, who finished high school in “Pisay” in 2018. 

Robredo welcomed Israel Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss to her office.

Robredo thanked the Israeli government for signing agreements aimed at enhancing relations between the two nations and for sending aid to the Philippines during the coronavirus pandemic.