What else can one say about the late Jesse Robredo that hasn’t already been said? What praise can one give that has not already been given? In a society where even the vilest villains are routinely extolled once they give up the ghost, the laudatory language heaped on the man who had to bear the indignity of being appointed only in an “acting” capacity by Noynoy Aquino and who was thrice rejected by the Commission on Appointments, has been unprecedented.
Of course, unlike the villains, Jesse Robredo deserves the posthumous accolade. But the irony is reminiscent of Mark Antony’s searing eulogy to Julius Caesar: “The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones.” Except that in the case of Jesse Robredo, it is the good he did that has risen to life after his death.
It is in this context that I have decided to lift bodily from William Shakespeare’s masterpiece and, like Mark Antony, attempt to pay tribute to Jesse Robredo – with proper attribution, of course, lest I be counted among this country’s famous plagiarists. Where the Bard’s verses end and mine begin is something I leave readers to divine.
***
Friends, Pinoys, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I have come to bury Jesse, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones.
But ‘tis not so with Jesse.
The noble Senator Sotto hath told you, Jesse was a great man;
If it were so, why was he not endorsed,
And why offer to confirm him only now?
Here under leave of the president and the rest,
For Noynoy is an honourable man,
So are they all, all honourable men,
Come I to speak at Jesse’s funeral.
I knew him not, except from news reports,
And how in death they heap much praise on him
For honesty, hard work and competence.
And yet, this Jesse, the Commission thrice
Rejected when his chance for confirmation came;
While Noynoy kept him in an acting role.
Was this his just reward for excellence?
He wrought improvements at DILG,
Whose vile corruption everyone knows well.
Did this in Jesse show incompetence?
When other politicians stole, Jesse just worked.
Incompetence is made of lesser stuff.
Yet Noynoy kept him in an acting role,
Unsure, perhaps, that he deserved his post;
And Noynoy is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honourable men.
You may recall that hostage tragedy,
When Lim and Puno sought to wash their hands,
And how the rumour was, Jess would be axed;
Yet Jesse kept his peace, and silently;
For Lim and Puno are honourable men.
I speak not to disprove what pundits say;
But here I am to speak what I do know:
In Naga, all did love him much, not without cause.
What cause withheld his confirmation then?
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts
And men have lost their reason, bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Jess;
Honoured in death, but in his life ignored;
Heaped presidential praise, in life deprived;
Offered a hero’s burial in a sacred spot
Which Ferdinand E. Marcos still has not.
But friends and family in Naga wait
To bury Jesse in his native soil,
Where Jesse poured his skills and all his toil,
Before the limelight did his name despoil.
Listen while politicians and the pundits speak
Of such outstanding qualities that Jesse had,
Which they themselves had chosen to ignore
When he was yet alive to hear them roar.
In death he gets these honors on his tomb;
But who am I to question their intent?
These politicians and those with the pen,
They, after all, are honourable men.
Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up
And let me not your passions set aflame;
They that have done this deed are honored men;
What private motives drove them, I know not.
What made them do it, only they would know,
And will, no doubt, with reasons answer you.
I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts;
I am no orator as politicians are,
But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man,
That knew not Jesse then, though now we know him well.
Why should I be the one to speak of him?
For I have neither wit nor words nor worth,
Nor utterance, nor power of the speech,
To stir men’s blood: I only speak right on;
I tell you that which you yourselves do know;
Show you sweet Jesse’s body in his coffin lies,
Bid you to hear the legislators speak
Of Jesse who in life they did reject;
And now in death with fulsome praise extol.
Ah, Jesse, Jesse, squirm not in your grave;.
Beloved Naga longs for your return.
And there, deserving love and honours wait.
Let not the Epals spoil your final rites,
While your dear wife and kids in silence weep.
In life you never ever asked for much.
Grateful Nagueños give you all in death.
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