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Chatto Recalls Robredo’s Help to Bohol Dev’t
published by the Bohol Chronicle, August 26, 2012
   
Bohol Governor Edgar M. Chatto has recalled how Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo had helped Bohol in setting up development projects here and in further promoting the already-instituted transparency and accountability thrust of the Provincial Government.

“Few days before his plane crashed, Secretary Robredo himself congratulated us after the Province of Bohol, twice in a row, was adjudged as the No. 1 and Best Managed Province of the Philippines in years 2010 and 2011,” Chatto said in an interview.

Still reeling from shock over news of Robredo’s death, Chatto recalled how passionate Robredo had been in helping Bohol move forward. The DILG Secretary saw that Bohol, of all the provinces in the country, has the most promising potential to contribute to national economy, Chatto said.

“Robredo had set a very high standard for ethical leadership and honesty in governance which he started in Naga City, and we are proud to say that the Provincial Government of Bohol has consistently met Secretary Robredo’s standards,” Chatto said.

A week before Robredo’s plane crashed off the shores of Masbate, Chatto and Congressman Rene Relampagos met Robredo and DOTC Secretary Mar Roxas in Manila discussing over development programs in Bohol, including the latest update on the Panglao International Airport.

Robredo’s dead body was recovered three days later on the day the nation was commemorating the death of the late Senator Ninoy Aquino. Chatto and key provincial officials were offering a special mass for Robredo and for Sen. Ninoy Aquino at the Governor’s Mansion on Tuesday when the governor got the sad news of Robredo’s fate.

“I still find myself in a state of unbelief upon hearing of the Secretary’s fate,” Chatto said. “I have so many questions why this tragedy had to happen for a man whom I deeply consider a close friend, great leader, and model public servant.”

Robredo, a graduate of Harvard University, served as Mayor of Naga City for 18 years in two three terms since 1988. As a mayor of the once-sleepy city of Naga, he instituted unprecedented reforms on government honesty and accountability that eventually revolutionized and transformed the economy of Naga which earned Asiaweek Magazine’s accolade as one of “Most Improved Cities in Asia.”

In 2000, Robredo was awarded the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award (Asia’s equivalent to the Nobel Prize) for his great work in government service.

“When President Noynoy Aquino assumed office in Malacanang he only has Robredo in his mind who should lead the DILG,” Chatto said. “The President has been very impressed of Robredo’s principles and work ethics,” he added.

The Bohol governor said that Pres. Aquino and Robredo deeply share the same values of good governance, that is the hallmark of “Daang Matuwid” vision, noting that the two leaders had become close friends that “the two are even willing to go to prison together for the sake of truth and justice.”

Chatto recalled that Robredo believed that “if we can change and transform the barangay, we can also transform the nation.”

“I draw so much inspiration from the work and principles of Secretary Robredo,” Chatto said, “and in fact, the Province’s very own Purok Movement System has the patter after Robredo’s principles of governance.”

The Purok System of the Province of Bohol is a unique method of delivering projects and services to Boholanos, allowing people to have direct access to the Provincial Government, a leadership method that has attracted the attention of national leaders.

Chatto said that few days before the ill-fated plane crashed, Robredo, after congratulating Bohol as the Best Managed Province of the Philippines, also released the “List of Best Performing LGUs” nationwide.

It may also be noted that Robredo and Gov Chatto met regularly with Australian counterparts in AUSAID-DILG-PGBh PRMF Program.

Few months before the August 18 tragedy, Chatto recalled that he was with Robredo and Bohol mayors led by League of Mayors (Bohol) President Roberto Cajes in a specially arranged consultation in Cebu while the provinces of Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental and Siquijor were in a disaster management conference.
Chatto said it is still fresh in his mind when Secretary Bohol came to Bohol with President Noynoy Aquino, who inducted the governor as Chairman of the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC). Robredo was with Chatto in the same helicopter that flew them to Trinidad town in Bohol during the visit of Pres. Aquino.

In last year’s Pres. Carlos P. Garcia Celebration, Robredo was the guest speaker. The late DILG Secretary was also the guest speaker in the Province’s Disaster Management Training and during the launching of Tarsier 117 (Bohol’s version of USA’s 911) in Bohol Tropics Resort in Tagbilaran City.


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