Robredo aide: I was prepared to die for Sir Jesse

WEEKS after the plane crash that killed Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo, the aide-de-camp of the late official said he was ready to sacrifice his life for the safety of his esteemed boss.

Following the Code of Honor of aides and security officers, Chief Inspector June Abrazado, Robredo's police aide and the lone survivor of the plane crash, said he was "very willing and prepared" to give his life for the late secretary.

"When I accepted the job as his aide I knew very well my responsibility and the things I should sacrifice without any mental reservation, that includes my life," Abrazado said in his Facebook account.

"I was always prepared to take bullets to protect the Good Secretary and ready to leave my family with nothing but pride and honor," he added.

Abrazado said he initially did want to post any comments and just let himself "suffer in silence" regarding the incident. But he said he could no longer ignore the people "who are continuously praying, hoping and worrying" for his well-being until now.

He said every time he sees the plane wreckage on television, he always asks himself how anyone can possibly survive from that mishap.

Abrazado was with Robredo and two pilots of the Piper Seneca plane when the aircraft crashed off the waters of Masbate last August 18. The bodies of Robredo and pilot Captain Jessup Bahinting and Nepalese co-pilot Kshitiz Chandz were recovered after days of search.

"The point of impact keeps on playing over and over on my mind and keeps me wondering why I still managed to wake up inside the plane after such magnitude?" he said.

He also commented on some media reports that contained rumors and unconfirmed versions of the plane crash, saying these "gave doubt and misconception to many people that gave opportunity to others to pry on the issue."

Abrazado hoped that some people should not take advantage of the accident "to voice out their propaganda" against the government and the Philippine National Police without giving respect to victims of the tragedy.

He also expressed his gratitude to the Robredo family, his physicians, the authorities who responded to the plane crash, and Joseph Delfin Beldaboy, the fisherman who saved him.

"I owe you my life when you came just on time before I could have drowned, and saved me. I'm sure we will see each other again and I will thank you formally," Abrazado said.

The police aide also hoped that government leaders and every Filipino may realize and follow the advocacies, idealism, and examples of Robredo's good governance.

He also said that the late official and his family never made them feel that they are mere aides or security personnel.

"You always treated us like your own son," Abrazado told of his former boss.

The police aide added that it was a great moment to be with Robredo up to the last moments of his life.

"I shall forever bear the conscience of being here alive instead of Sir Jess," he concluded.(Emmanuel Louis Bacani/Sunnex)