Jesse Robredo was touted as an excellent local government unit (LGU) executive but you don’t hear that from the natives of Naga. His hand was in every viable business in the city, both legal and illegal, including the central transport terminal. Girls as young as 15 years old were available from pimps for tourists and natives alike. There were also drugs in steady supply, mostly shabu and marijuana. Naga still has a large number of informal settlers and the drug hub was known as Isla, located in Barangay Triangulo. Naga was nothing like what was part and parcel of the packaging of Jesse Robredo’s image of good governance. That could be found only in the press releases.
It was his closeness to Mar Roxas which opened new doors for Jesse Robredo. Shortly after Noynoy Aquino won the Presidency, Jesse was on the list that Roxas provided Aquino with what was the usual division of the spoils of victory. Mar wanted Jesse appointed as the Secretary of Interior and Local Government. It was to be an interim appointment because Roxas had to wait it out for a year before he could assume a Cabinet post after his loss to Jojo Binay in the Vice-Presidential race. Robredo would warm the seat for Roxas until the ban expired.
Jesse had plans for running for higher office. Kaya Natin, the organization he founded with Isabela Governor Grace Padaca and Pampanga Governor Ed Panlilio, became nationwide in its scope. His post at the DILG attracted other heads of local government units to join it. Robredo was developing his own nationwide network for a Senatorial run in 2013. It was expected that Mar Roxas would be Aquino’s anointed successor in 2016 and he would be in need of a running mate. Since Roxas traces his roots to Capiz province, Robredo would be a perfect complement since he is from Bicol, which is a component of the Southern Tagalog Region.
His plans were cut short by his death in the plane crash. That incident was bedevilled with inconsistencies. How did his security and aide survive with only a broken arm? Why was there no autopsy of the fatalities? Why did the American technical diver who discovered the wreckage die from an apparent rubout? The theory is the security aide shot Jesse first, then waited until the plane was near the Masbate coastline, after which he proceeded to shoot the two pilots before jumping off into the open sea. What was the motive?
American diver who helped search for Robredo killed
Robredo was building up dossiers on government officials involved in illegal drugs and gambling. This was found out by Undersecretary Rico Puno who belonged to the Samar faction in the administration of then President Noynoy Aquino. Puno was keeping tabs on Jesse. The dossiers were part of Jesse’s grand strategy to become President in 2016. He had the image and packaging having won the Ramon Magsaysay Award and his “record” as Naga City Mayor. He had the support of the non-government organisation (NGO) network and civil society. He was a La Sallite. He resonated well-enough with the masses with his “Tsinelas” leadership and would have the backing of Kaya Natin and Aksyon Demokratiko, the political party founded by the late Sen. Raul Roco, when he ran for President.
Recall how Leni had to seek the intervention of then Justice Secretary Leila De Lima to prevent Undersecretary Puno from opening and entering Jesse’s office at the penthouse of the Lansbergh Place condominium along Tomas Morato, which served as the Robredo residence in Manila. That condominium is owned by them. The office at the penthouse unit was where Jesse kept all the dossiers he compiled as DILG Secretary. It’s an open secret that the reason for Leni’s running for Congress was to keep political pressure on Jesse’s dummies for them to surrender the assets they held in trust for Jesse to Leni. This was probably the reason why Leni couldn’t stop herself from smiling in that now famous photo of her with top government officials standing by Jesse’s bier. She was finally free of him and had the money to boot.
The case of the Robredos is what usually befalls those who are evil and diabolical to the point that there is nothing sincere about their character. This is why she and Jesse were actually a perfect match.
Leni Robredo has parlayed the death of Jesse as political leverage and her assuming the role of Naga’s political boss. She was chosen as Mar Roxas’ running mate in 2016 after one term in the House of Representatives. She “won” over Marcos in the Vice-Presidential race with help from the Comelec and Smartmatic. She is now running for President despite her claim that she would step down from politics after her term ends.
The public image of Robredo is that of a goody-goody two shoes convent girl who is as straight as an arrow. She has learned very well from her husband who was as wily as any veteran politician is in the country. Jesse packaged himself as the antithesis of a traditional politician even if he was one himself. Leni is the same sheep in wolf’s clothing.
If this were not the case, how can she explain her supporting the candidacy of Rolando Andaya Jr., as Governor of Camarines Sur despite reports linking him to the drug trade in the province? This is not a matter of rumor only because Andaya has been behaving erratically the past few years and his physical appearance is itself confirmation that he is a drug user.
Andaya was a Gloria Macapagal Arroyo favorite early on with his stint in the House of Representatives being interrupted when he was appointed Secretary of Budget and Management after the mass resignation of the Hyatt 10. He ran again for Congress and served out his term until June 2019 when he lost in his bid to become Governor where he lost to Miguel Villafuerte.
Nonoy Andaya’s post-Arroyo career has been wracked with controversies with his being charged in the PDAF scam and the misappropriation of the disbursements from the Malampaya Gas Fund. He and his wife were also charged by the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission for the misdeclaration of their assets in the SALNs they filed in 2016 and 2017.
Andaya has also been linked to the drug trade in Bicol and Pasig. His sister, Maribel, is the wife of former Pasig City Mayor Roberto Eusebio. Maribel herself is a former Mayor as well. Back in 2006, elements of the PNP Eastern Police District dismantled the “Shabu Tiangge” operating within the vicinity of the Pasig City Hall. In 2014, 16 persons were arrested by the PNP in the same area for the sale of drugs.
In Camarines Sur, fishermen were astonished when illegal drugs with a street value of P280M were found floating in Ragay Gulf. Ragay is the hometown of the Andaya’s. Then PNP Chief Police Director Oscar Albayalde relayed to the President that the containers have a GPS tracking device with the signal used to retrieve the drums where they have been dropped off. The current mayor of Ragay is a relative of Andaya and there have been reports that he has been shipping the drugs from Ragay to Pasig for eventual distribution through Boratong’s network.
Maribel is known to have close ties with Sheryl Molera, the second wife of the Buratong Gang leader Amin Imam Boratong, who was arrested at the tiangge in 2006.
Leni Robredo is supposed to be an advocate of good governance so it begs the question what is she doing endorsing Andaya for Governor of Camarines Sur given his list of cases for graft and corruption and his reported involvement in the drug trade? Mainstream media has not brought forth these questions which Robredo should answer.
In the meantime, Robredo has gotten away with calling the Marcos’ thieves and murderers for the past six years since she ran and “won” the Vice-Presidency. Is it not time that mainstream media asks her these hard questions in order for the public to be informed about the hypocrisy of her moral values given that she is supporting the candidacy of a man with dubious moral integrity and mental competency as the Governor of her home province of Camarines Sur?
Postscript:
The sordid details of Jesse Robredo’s involvement in legal business fronts and illegal businesses such as drugs and gambling can be found in the link below.
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