Phl in "Days of Mourning"

Wednesday 22nd of August 2012

QUEZON CITY, Aug 22 (PIA) -- President Benigno S. Aquino III yesterday signed Proclamation No. 460, placing the country in "National Days of Mourning" over the death of Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo.

It officially began yesterday, Aug 21 and will continue until the late secretary's interment.

The proclamation also orders "all government buildings and installations in the Philippines, and our posts abroad" to put the Philippine flag at half-mast from sunrise to sunset for six days beginning yesterday.

Meanwhile, until the date of the interment, flags will remain lowered to half-mast in Malaca�ang Palace, City of Naga and all offices and installations of the Department of Interior and Local Government, Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Local Government Academy, National Police Commission, Philippine National Police and the Philippine Public Safety College.

Robredo and the two pilots of the Piper Seneca were reported missing on the news Saturday evening after the light plane crashed in the seas of Masbate.

The secretary's aide-de-camp, Police Senior Insp. Jun Abrasado survived the crash to call for immediate rescue.

Pres. Aquino and Transportation and Communications Sec. Mar Roxas rushed to Masbate to lead an intensive search and rescue operations for Robredo and the two pilots.

Masses were held in various congregations in the country as prayers for their safe rescue circulated on text messaging and social networking sites.

After a two-day intensive search and rescue operation, Robredo's remains were recovered at sea-depth of 180-feet at 8:15 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

His body was flown to Naga City, his hometown, where he served as Mayor of Naga City from 1988 to 1998 and from 2001 to 2010 with utmost dedication.

Robredo's outstanding performance as Mayor of Naga earned him numerous awards such as the Magsaysay Award for Government Service in 2000, the first Filipino mayor to be conferred with the distinction.

He was appointed secretary of the DILG in July 2010, where he was instrumental in the implementation of far-reaching reforms in local governance.

"His many virtues as a public servant have permanently earned for him the gratitude of the City he led, and the Republic he served," the proclamation said. (RJB/DBN/PIA-NCR)