Newsbytes
By Raïssa Robles
This painting “Full Fathom Five” by US artist Jackson Pollock shows the chaos of the drowning.
When Jesse Robredo went missing Saturday after his plane dropped from the sky, I had a hard time sleeping.
A shard of poetry kept tumbling in my head. I could not get rid of the images it summoned.
It was from Ariel’s Song in William Shakespeare’s comedy The Tempest. And all I could remember then were the first three lines that went this way –
Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
That was all. At that time, I dared not speak the unspeakable. Like the rest of the nation, I wanted to see Jesse Robredo so very much alive. Cast away on an island.
Collectively, the nation waited. Saturday dragged on to Sunday, then onto Monday when a sense of dread seeped into the body politic. But still the nation hoped for a miracle. It never came.
On Tuesday, the 29’th year after the assassination of Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., Jesse Robredo’s body was recovered by the senator’s only son.
Today when he was buried I decided to find the rest of Ariel’s Song. To my surprise, it described what had happened to Jesse Robredo who was transformed from a mere alter ego of the President to someone even the President could look up to. Here is the full stanza:
Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
Ding-dong.
Hark! now I hear them—Ding-dong, bell.
Yes, indeed. While Jesse Robredo’s body lay trapped beneath the waves, the nation’s feelings toward him did “suffer a sea-change into something rich and strange.”
This, I guess, is how heroes are made. You can never legislate or decree heroism.
Jesse Robredo never got a single medal for bravery in battle like those fake ones that someone once accumulated and displayed proudly in Malacañang Palace once upon a time. He simply did his job in the best and most honest way he knew how.
The brave Sonia Brady
Nation-building is never done. And neither is praying.
Today, as we laid Jesse Robredo to rest, please include in your prayers our Ambassador to Beijing Sonia Brady for a swift and full recovery.
Brady went to Beijing knowing fully well that she had had a stroke before. Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez told me this morning in an interview that the congressional Commission on Appointments had asked Brady about her previous stroke. Hernandez quoted Brady as telling the lawmakers that her doctor had given her “a clean bill of health.”
I think this is one more display of exemplary bravery by a public servant. She went to Beijing knowing she was sallying forth into a diplomat’s nightmare. This was not at all an easy peasy assignment. And the fact that our foreign secretary said that “maybe” the ailing Brady could fly home in two weeks’ time simply underscores the seriousness of her stroke.
We have few ships, we have few guns for battle. But we do have brave people like Sonia Brady.
Mel says
Harassment or abuse of a Senator’s privilege?
Why don’t the Senate make positive use of their time to tackle and VOTE ON the RH BILL now. They would rather dilly dallying to get on the news bandwagon to boost their senatorial whims and caprice.
—-
Is Senator M D Santiago onto ICC or stick around?
“Santiago has deferred her assumption of a post on the International Criminal Court, prompting Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. to ask Santiago to immediately notify the commission once she has decided to leave the Senate for the ICC.
Santiago’s decision is crucial so that the Comelec could determine if the ballots to be printed for the 2013 senatorial race would have 12 or 13 slots.” – By Michael Lim Ubac.
Philippine Daily Inquirer, 7:03 pm | Monday, September 10th, 2012
OR the netizens’ petition against the appointment of MD Santiago gained notice that the ICC position may no longer be available for her caliber?
Mel says
“Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said documents entrusted to Robredo “do not belong to the secretary. They belong to the department he (worked for). And that’s state property.” – Enrile says papers with Robredo ‘state property’, By Cathy Yamsuan. Philippine Daily Inquirer 8:17 pm | Monday, September 10th, 2012
vander anievas says
sec jesse robredo left a legacy equal to our felled heroes:
1. he proved that an intelligent person can lead w/o taking advantage of unlearned
2. he was not from a poor family but he proved he can mingle with deprived people
3. he was a mayor and a dilg secretary but never enjoyed perks and compliments
4. he can easily put his wife as his replacement as naga’s mayor but refrained
5. he proved that a mahusay and matino leader is still possible in our corrupted politics
6. he exposed CA inefficiency and patronage
7. he proved his love for the PHL and its people even he was harassed by his political enemies being a mestizo
8. he proved that our country can still hope for more good and honorable leaders
Lorena says
This morning a colleague emailed me a copy of Mayor Jesse Robredo’s Commencement Address to the Ateneo de Manila University Class of 2003 which finally allowed the tears to flow from my heart heavy with grief for this holy and noble man.
jomjom says
can you post it here?
Thanks
Kim says
http://www.naga.gov.ph/cityhall/ademu2003.html
Dimasalang says
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. John 12:24
Yes! Jesse Robredo was taken away from us so that through his death many Robredos will appear and make a much needed change for the good of our beloved country.
pinay710 says
suhestyon lang po. di po ba sa mga tanggapan ng ating pamahalaan may larawan ng pangulo ng Pilipinas. di kaya mabuti ilagay din sa bandang ibaba ng larawan ng PANGULO NG BANSA ANG LARAWAN NI JESSE ROBREDO? isang munting suhestyon mula sa isang nagkaedad na at wala nang magawa para sa bayan dahil huli na. maliban sa pukpukin ang mga ulo ng mga apo para bumoto ng matinong mga kandidato.
TOL says
Not too late….we know you can still do a lot for our country even in your own little ways….like expressing your thoughts here in this site.
pinay710 says
@TOL, thanks, yes i am doing it. to all my friends i directly told them about what i have read in this website of raissa and all the comments i can remember while we have our group together, but when someone will argue about the legality of some of our discussions, i will just tell them to go to raissarobles.com and comment on the website and lots of intelligent commenters will clarify their questions that i cannot answer. hehehehe but i dont copy or paste any of your comments here because i DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DO IT. hehehehe too old to learn advance technology. enough i could open websites and read and comments if i can reach some topics. hehehehe
zkr says
Maybe we should start finding and recognizing mayors, baranggay captains and other politicians of the same weave and make them known to others (since mainstream media isn’t doing it). It’s not impossible – let me start by naming one.
Dr. Eddie Dorotan – former mayor of Irosin, Sorsogon (check him out) – I think he fits the weave.
agot says
I fully agree. Who knows, we miht be able to identify this early and thus support a possible successor to PNoy.
bing says
I know Doc Ed Dorotan.
Another outstanding young man awardee from the Bicol Region. A Doctor who opted to go back to the boondocks to practice his medicine and in the process absorb the plight of his poverty stricken townsmates.
I will be my life that he can continue the legacy left by Jessie Robredo.
I hope Pinoy notices him.
best regards,
bing
zkr says
I knew him in college and we both did our barriowork in the same place. We knew he was doing a good job as mayor in Irosin.
Check out the speech he gave in 2006 for the Commencement Exercise of the San Beda College of Medicine to get to know more about him .
rosario says
may fb raw si Pres. Noy. bakit hindi mo ipost sa fb ni Pres.Noy ang tunkol kay Doc. Ed Dorotan ng mabasa na nya. then they can contact him, do some reseach. kasi sa balita sabi ay next week before Pres. Noy goes to summit meeting eh meron na raw siyang itatalaga sa DILG. wala pa nga lang binabanggit kong sino.
wala ako fb. wala ako tweeter. wala ako blog. kaya ko sinasuggest sa iyo. pero hilig ko mag istambay dito kay raissa at sa mga kasama niyang CPMERS kasi marami akong natututunan. at kahit papaano eh nakakapag comment din ako. and some replies too.
zkr says
DR. EDDIE DOROTAN – a friend of the late Jess Robredo, himself a former transformational mayor of a small town in Bicol, he shares the same values and passion for good governance. Reading his story is almost like reading Sec. Robredo’s. I hope and pray that he is in the shortlist of candidates being considered as replacement of the beloved secretary. Here is his story…
MEDICINE AND BEYOND
Speech delivered by Dr. Eddie Dorotan as Guest Speaker
At the 1st Commencement Exercises, San Beda College of Medicine
Mendiola, Manila, April 26, 2006
Introduction
Mainit na pagbati ng magandang hapon sa inyong lahat!
To all San Beda College officials and faculty headed by Rector-President Fr. Anscar Chupungco, Abbot-Chancellor Rev. Fr. Tarcisio Narciso, Vice-President Dr. Felina Young, Dr. Manuel Chuachaco, to Dean Dr. Noel, to Assistant Dean Dr. Francis Cid, to the loving parents and relatives of our graduates, ladies and gentlemen:
bigyan po natin ng masigabong palakpakan ang mga unang manggagamot ng San Beda College of Medicine! Mabuhay po kayo at tayong lahat na nagbubunyi sa inyong pagtatapos!
Twenty five years ago, I was just like you. At age 24, already married with a 3 year old daughter, Maria Malaya who is now also a doctor, I, together with my good friends, Noel Guison, Francis Cid, and Alma Jimenez, graduated with the UP Medicine Class of 1981. (Sabi namin, we are the best class in 100 years of UP College of Medicine!).
At that time, I felt that being a doctor is the best in the world.
Ilan po sa inyo ngayon ang may pakiramdam na ang pagiging doctor ay tunay ngang pinakamagandang pangyayari sa buhay ninyo? Ilan po sa inyo ngayon ang pakiramdam ay mali ang napiling ninyong propesyon? Ilan po sa inyo ang pupunta sa Estados Unidos? Ilan po sa inyo ang magpapakadalubhasa? O ilan po sa inyo ang magpapakadalubhasa sa Nursing? At ilan po naman sa inyo ang babalik sa inyong mga probinsiya?
Fellow doctors, today, 25 years later, I still feel that being a doctor is the best thing that ever happened to me. And I will share with you today why.
The doctor as a community healer
After graduation, I went straight back to my poor province, Sorsogon. Most of my classmates, relatives and friends, asked why? And I replied, “why not?”
Together with my wife, Oyen, a nutritionist-dietitian, we started a community-based health program among the rural poor. Sa Sorsogon, nandoon na ho ata ang lahat ng tropical diseases: tuberculosis, schistosomiasis, filariasis, paragonimiasis, amoebiasis, at iba pang sis.
We organized TB patients into TB clubs so that in company with other TB patients, they could de-stigmatize tuberculosis as a curse at nakakahiyang sakit. Mind you, yong mga far-advanced cases ang nahahalal na mga presidente! These community clubs would hold educational classes among community members on how to treat and prevent TB, collect sputum, supervise treatments, some even injecting streptomycin to members from far flung barangays. I can vividly remember these clubs producing cultural plays on TB to educate communities and raise funds to buy medicines.
Working with these patients was really gratifying as I saw them grow from dependent, passive individuals to organized active people taking control of their lives despite their diseases. Community based health program is about empowering local communities.
But this involvement with TB patients had its toll on my 4th child, who was then 2 years old. Miguel contracted TB meningitis and has to be operated to put a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt for hydrocephalus. With God’s blessings, he survived and is now an incoming 1st year medical student.
Aside from community involvement, I also worked as a resident physician, then later as a chief, of a 25 bed district hospital in my town of Irosin. Here, I honed my general clinical practice through a learn-by-doing mode. I trained myself to be an anesthesiologist, pediatrician, ob-gyn, surgeon, internist, orthopedic surgeon and radiologist.
One time, policemen from a nearby town brought a very poor pregnant woman in her 30’s to our district hospital. She was in shock with a blood pressure of 60 palpatory, very pale and had a ruptured uterus. The provincial hospital was 60km away and we had no ambulance then. I immediately got the IV fluids of other patients, hooked them into the poor woman and ordered an emergency operation. I did an explore-lap and true enough, the uterus was ruptured! I did my first hysterectomy following the Zollinger surgical atlas held up by a nurse. To our delight, the mother and baby lived! I was informed that eventually the baby was adopted by an Australian born-again missionary but I lost track of the mother.
As chief of hospital managing both the preventive health programs of four neighboring towns as well as the curative hospital work, I learned what it meant to be a CHIEF:
A chief must have a C or the ability to command, not out of fear, but out of respect,
He has to have an H or the heart of a woman, gentle and compassionate to her patients and staff,
He has to have I or integrity, shunning the temptation of graft and corruption,
An E for effective and efficient leadership which is doing the right things and doing things right and
F for full support of the people
I don’t think our current Commander in Chief would pass what it means to be a real chief! Am I right?
Fellow doctors, the pay-off in community medicine is priceless: manok, gulay, prutas, isda, itlog, a smile or as simple as a mumbling of ‘salamat, dok’. But one feels great with all of these simple things given back to you.
The doctor as a political activist
Then in 1992, ten years into the practice of community medicine, I was forced to join politics. It was the time of devolution. Rural Health Units were to be devolved to the mayors and hospitals to the governors. I thought that by joining politics I could raise my struggle for a healthy and just society to a higher level.
I ran as mayor against a traditional politician we called trapos: he has been a mayor for more than 30 years. Like other trapos, he wins by employing 3Gs: guns, gold, goons. On the other hand, we called ourselves as guapos (genuine alternative politicians) and we countered the 3 Gs with 5 Gs: goodwill, good program of government, grassroots support, guts and girls/women support. To cut the story short, my team won convincingly. (Actually, ang sekreto: kapag doctor ka, di ka matatalo dahil ang kampanya ay “‘di po kayo gagaling kapag di ninyo ako iboboto!”)
But winning an election is much easier than governing. When you are a doctor, people will thank you regardless if your patient lives or dies. But when you are a politician, there will always be people who will curse you regardless of whether your political action is beneficial to many or not.
But being a doctor is a plus factor in doing good governance.
As soon as I became mayor, I started diagnosing the ills of my town through a participatory assessment of the different systems of the body politic: economic poverty and inequality, political apathy and armed conflicts, environmental degradation, as well as socio-cultural dependency and inertia.
In medicine, we are taught that we should not treat only symptoms but the causes of the symptoms. I can vividly recall, one day, when a young beautiful woman consulted me because of fever. In my haste, I just gave her paracetamol. The fever was gone but the woman went back to say she has pain at her buttocks. So, I next gave her mefenamic acid which gave her temporary relief. She came back again limping with fever and pain. This time, I looked at her buttocks and found out that she has an abscess! And we all know that the cure is a painful surgical incision and drainage plus antibiotics!
So in the Municipality of Irosin, we zeroed in on the core problems and we prescribed painful remedies. These, I called, ‘making a difference pills and strategies’. Among them were removing jueteng, proclaiming the town as a peace zone, developing an agrarian reform community and promoting peoples participation in governance.
My town was a center of jueteng operations in Sorsogon before I got elected. The jueteng lords from Manila collected about P100,000 a day. That is about P3M a month or P36M a year that is being siphoned out of the local economy. When I became mayor, I was offered P10,000 a day, an amount equal to my monthly pay! Angrily, I immediately told them to pack up and stopped the collection of blood money from my impoverished people. We loaned out some amounts to the bet collectors for them to start micro-enterprises like fish vending, operating sari-sari stores, etc. Yes, my friends, jueteng can be eliminated. It only takes political will.
My town then was also beset with killings. On one hand, the military were salvaging activists and NPA supporters. On the other hand, the NPAs were executing revolutionary justice against pro-government spies. The people were caught in the middle. We unilaterally declared Irosin as a peace zone prohibiting armed conflict between the military and the NPA. (Bawal po silang magbarilan sa loob ng aking bayan. Puede silang magbarilan sa labas ng aking bayan!) We asked the military to instead use their engineering brigade to build schools and they did! We also asked the NPAs to guard our forest against illegal logging and mobilize communities in constructing day care and health centers in far-flung red areas – and they did. While I was mayor, no armed encounters happened inside my town. Our midwives and municipal employees were able to reach far-flung areas without fear of being caught in the crossfire. What national government can’t do, local government can do!
My town was also a feudal community where a few own vast tracks of land while the many don’t own anything. We immediately distributed lands to the landless and compensated landlords for their lands. What followed was the flourishing of socio-economic cooperatives engaged in rice farming and trading, abaca and coconut processing, agro-forestry as well as infrastructure build up like farm to market roads, public market and water systems.
But the most exciting program that we developed was for the people to participate in governance. Barangay health workers were part of our health teams, farmers chartered my agriculture programs, senior citizens were implementing out of school educational classes, women were engaged in micro-lending and the youth were planting trees around the Mt Bulusan National Park. If people are actively involved from planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of government programs, then government becomes really meaningful and democratic and in the end, results are much better appreciated and felt by the people.
In my 6 years as Mayor, I learned that the following three principles of good governance in health care and in the affairs of the local and national government should be followed- if we are to move forward as a people. Sana may mga tao ngayon na malapit sa kasalukuyang pamahalaan na nakikinig. I hope I can be heard loud and clear in nearby Malacanang.
Ang una po ay ang prinsipyong accountability and transparency. One should be as clear and transparent in what you do with peoples’ money and trust. Every year in my municipality, I reported to the people all the activities we did with the money we collected and more importantly, what we have accomplished. Hindi pareho ng iba dyan na tinatago kung saan napunta ang fertilizer funds sa proteksion ng EO 464!
Pangalawang prinsipyo po: Govern with the people and I mean, your entire constituency, be they be your allies or your political enemies. This is the principle of participatory and inclusive governance. I did not fire people from the munisipyo because they did not vote for me. I consulted my political enemies on matters important to our town’s development. Most importantly, I gave voice to the marginalized farmers, tenants, market vendors, tricycle drivers and urban squatters. Hindi po pareho ng iba dyan na hinuhuli at kinukulong ang mga taong gustong lumahok sa pag-gogobierno sa pamamagitan ng calibrated preemptive response at proclamation 1017.
But what is most important in public life is the trust and confidence one have in public officials. That we call integrity and credibility. These are not assets one gets by speeches, nor by spin doctors, nor by public relations. They are earned from what one does in running the affairs of government. It starts from convincingly getting peoples consent to govern. Hindi pareho dyan sa iba na nananalo dahil kay Garci.
Tulad ng mabuti at mapagkakatiwalang pulitiko, tayo rin pong mga doctor ay dapat accountable and transparent sa ating mga pasyente. Dapat din po natin silang igalang at pagpapasyahin batay sa tamang payo. Only then can we have their confidence and trust in treating them. Ang magandang pagsasamahan po ng manggagamot at pasyente ay tiyak na hahantong sa magandang resulta ng pag-alaga ng kalusugan.
The doctor as a health governance advisor
After 6 years in local politics, I decided to try out national and international engagements. I first worked for the Ford Foundation in assisting non-government organizations implement innovative, results-oriented and participatory programs on environment, governance and health. I also worked with the German GTZ, the World Bank, USAID, UNDP, Konrad Adenauer Foundation and other development agencies on various projects concerning health and governance.
In all of these engagements, I was focused on introducing health sector-wide reforms that should transform our highly doctor-oriented, anti-poor, western-dependent and highly technical health system into one that is participatory, client-oriented, pro-poor, equitable, accessible and sustainable for our country.
Let me share with you some of the more exciting health reforms that are being done in different parts of the country:
The La Union Medical Center has been transformed from a dilapidated, dirty, poor service provincial hospital into one of the best public hospital in country offering quality hospital services to the people especially the poor based on socialized pricing. It is the first local government owned non-stock nonprofit corporate hospital in the country.
The Tuba Rural Health unit in Benguet has devised color coding patient cards that helped reduced patient waiting time from 2 hour to 15 minutes!
Pangasinan is now developing a market segmentation strategy of charging those who can afford health services and subsidizing those who can’t
9 mayors in Iloilo organized their neighboring towns into an inter-local health zone co-financing both hospital and preventive health services
The Mayor of Bindoy in Negros Oriental has enrolled almost all his constituents to the National Health Insurance Program and was able to double his resources for health as well as offer free hospital and public health services to his people
The Governor of Misamis has tapped the private sector in forging cooperation with his network of public hospitals
The Provincial Health Offices of Sulu and Maguindanao are able to deliver health services even to conflict areas using health as entry points to peace building
The cities of Zamboanga, Cebu, Quezon, Pasay and Angeles have tapped non-government organizations in implementing programs with sex workers and drug users to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS
And there are more examples of exciting programs being developed around the country
The nice thing about being a consultant is that while sharing one’s expertise and experiences, you get to learn more from others. May extra bonus pa: you get to travel!
I was able to see the beautiful Angkor Wat and learn from the horrifying Killing Fields Museum in Cambodia while sharing with the political parties our experiences in local governance and decentralization
I was able to eat delicious noodle Pho-Hoa along the streets of Vietnam and see the remains of Ho Chi Minh while developing with their Department of Interior pilot programs on local democracy.
I was able to see the great tea plantation of Sri Lanka while coaching local communities the technology of participatory integrated area-development strategy
Not very far is our own: I have now traveled to almost all provinces of the Philippines from Batanes to Sulu and Tawi-tawi and discovered the beauty of our country while advising mayors and governors on ways to improve their health service delivery
Mga kasama: ang kagandahan po ng pagiging doctor ay maaari tayong madala kung saan mang sulok ng mundo para matuto, makibahagi at maglingkod!
The doctor beyond western medicine
After my speech here in San Beda, I would like to explore more the unknown and the mystical, the contemplative and the beyond. And here, I get my inspiration, not from St Ignatius, patron of my alma-mater Ateneo, or from the Oblation of my also mater UP, but from your patron: St Benedict. (Although mas gusto ko pa rin ang Blue Eagles kaysa sa Red Lions!)
Just recently, I have a brother and a sister-in-law who were both diagnosed to have liver cancers. My sister is now confined at NKI in serious condition. My brother is not only agonizing about his wife but about his future as well. And from here I deeply realized how we doctors are so helpless with diseases with unknown cures such as cancer. We simply do not know what to do except to offer palliative remedies such chemotherapy, radio frequency ablation and the like.
And just like so many people in situations similar to my brother’s and sister’s , people in desperate occasions turn to persons who treat the untreatable – persons who treat with unconventional wisdom, persons who treat with armaments we do not know nor comprehend. These are the herbolarios, the spiritistas, the hilots, the priests and the nuns and the mystics.
I brought a mystic priest, Fr Momoy, to my brother and sister-in-law. To our awe, he rightfully diagnosed my brother as having more than 5 liver tumors in the liver. He even told me that I have two stents inside my clogged coronary vessels and that my wife has a problem with her uterus! I found out from living patients that this Fr Momoy was able to let the crippled walk and lengthen the lives of terminal cancer patients and many more.
My brother and sister-in-aw are now with Fr Momoy, praying: “Into thy hand, we commend our spirit… and ….thy will be done…”
And therefore, we ask ourselves: is there room for modern medicine for the unknown, the unthinkable and the unexplainable?
Is our medical education geared towards competition but not compassion, individualism not team work, the different parts of the body not the whole, science and not the art of healing, knowledge and not wisdom?
For me integrative, holistic medicine is the wave of the future. As a reminder to all of us, it has been, ironically, the roots of modern medicine. Treat the body and soul as one and apply both the science and art of healing at the same time.
Conclusion
Ang haba napo ata ng kwento ko sa inyo.
Mula po sa aking pagiging community doctor, to being a mayor-doctor, to a consultant doctor and to a wannabe mystical doctor: I tell you: life has been beautiful, fruitful and gratifying. Ang sarap po maging doctor!
I hope and pray that yours will be the same, too. Each one of you may not be going the same direction. But whatever you are and wherever you are, I am confident you will be proud, happy and gratified. And you should! And you will!
Just remember: be intuitive, sensitive, compassionate and gentle to your patients, co-workers. Carry on your mission with the political will, drive and passion to serve the people especially the poor and the disadvantaged.
And be reminded of St. Benedicts’ Rules: Pray and work! Be with your people, the laymen; for religious life is social life. Do what is necessary and simple:
To relieve the poor
To clothe the naked
To visit the sick
To bury the dead
To help the afflicted
Let us remember that St Benedict, just like what he did in Subiaco, wanted us to live together in organized communities for the purpose of leading good lives….”
Mga bagong manggagamot ng San Beda, isang mainit at maalab na hapon po at mabuhay po tayong lahat!
God bless us all!
raissa says
Thanks for this.
He sounds like a very interesting man.
aurora abad-thorne says
The late Sec Jesse Robredo was so well-loved because we, Filipinos are so starved for goodness, honesty and idealism from our public servants. As he embodied our hopes and dreams, he will continue to inspire us. That we all have it in us- to be heroes in our own small way. Godspeed, Sec Robredo.
Ernie Lac says
I think TRAPOS will have a harder time now convincing people to vote for them unless they would resort to vote buying, bullying, scaring and other politician tricks. THEY WOULD BE SCRUTINIZED using the Jess Robredo microscope.
TOL says
If these vultures are into vote buying, accept the bribe and wag sila iboto. Then, you can donate the money to a worthy institution. Nabawasan na ang pera nila, hindi sila nanalo, may mabuti pang napuntahan ang talaga namang pera ng bayan.
Receiving their bribes may sound unethical but we can put this into a good cause. Besides, hindi naman natin talaga sila iboboto. So, they were not able to buy us. Inilagay lang natin sa tamang paglagyan ang pera ng bayan.
jomjom says
I wish to repost the comments (#2) of Andrew Lim:
Quote:
PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE NAVY DIVERS AND THE PEOPLE OF NAGA
While we couldn’t thank Jesse enough, I feel there are those who deserve special recognition, too.
1. The Navy divers who recovered Jesse and his companions from the seabed. They executed an underwater salute prior to releasing his body to the surface. Sayang, I dont think it was captured on film. It must have been a very moving sight. I cried when I heard about it.
One diver was interviewed, ” Bago ko sya binitawan, sumaludo ako. Tapos permission, ser, iiyakan ko na kayo.” What fine men! ” end of quote.
This is so poignant.. Parang may gumuhit sa puso ko while imagining the divers salute Robredo under water. It is so touching of the diver to ask permission from Robredo so he can cry for him!
And to think that I am not even related to Robredo.. I am not ashame to admit that I shed a tear for him, I, a big man, 48 years old, crying at this scenario.!
zkr says
Me too!
ozpinay says
same here!!!
andrew lim says
@jomjom, @zkr
Military men are trained to seek permission for anything from superior authority.
Considering the circumstances here (underwater and the superior is deceased) makes it even more extraordinary.
Even grown, hardened men in the military shed tears in the field, and it does not make them any less of a soldier.
Rowena A. Burden, M.D. says
thanks also to the foreign divers, the ones who first found Sec.Robredo… they didn’t have to, but, they helped :-)
Aurora Pascua says
Spoken soft hearted person always cry to a person who have such a good message work and honest human being left behind ?
TOL says
Ano daw?
Leona says
Sec. Jesse Robredo’s life and public service is the “good unknown proven” truthfully even unto his untimely death. The people realized more in death what he did than when he was in life doing the same for them. The “missing” is irreplaceable!
We will truly miss him. Naga City people will miss him. The country will miss him. Our leadership needs to find someone to replace him. Where? Only in the ranks of the localities we can find the person.
A known good person. If Jesse Robredo was there and came from there, there are for sure still more like him. Search truly without looking at the top but below, pick someone to become a root and not a dying leaf or decaying branch from above.
May God help and bless President Aquino’s search!