EDITORIAL - Leni: Surprise but no surprise

The decision of Leni Robredo, widow of the late DILG secretary Jesse Robredo, to run for Congress in the third district of Camarines Sur is not as last minute as it seems. If she is the bright lawyer many people think she is, the decision process started when Jesse died.

This is not intended to infringe on the privacy of the Robredos nor to mock their grief following the loss of Jesse. But as everyone who has ever experienced a deep personal loss would attest, the thought of what happens next always comes to mind even as the heart grieves.

That being the case, it has to be presumed that Leni, the strong woman that she is, must have started considering all the possible scenarios that Jesse’s death opened up for her and her family.

These scenarios may be positive or negative, but Leni had to consider everyone of them. And with all things being equal, it is rather impossible for Leni to miss thinking about the possibility that she may be pressured to run for public office in the footsteps of her husband.

Just as impossible would it be to imagine that Leni would only start thinking about such a prospect belatedly. No matter how fleeting the thought would have been, it must have occurred very early on, even on the day Jesse died as she pondered what the future now holds.

So, when Leni eventually filed her certificate of candidacy on the last day for filing, the real surprise was not about her filing at all but about the surprise of people on learning of the news.

Filipinos are supposed to eat politics for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That being so, they should have anticipated Leni’s move. Contemporary Philippine political history is replete with precedents of Leni’s case.

Indeed, one need not look far because two of the most interesting precedents continue to stare us in the face — that of Ninoy Aquino and Cory Aquino. When Ninoy died, Cory was thrust into the presidency. In similar fashion, Cory’s death thrust Noynoy into power.

This is the same with Leni. When Jesse was alive, running for public office was farthest from her mind. In fact, she continued saying so after he died. But as borne out by events, it was not to be long before she snapped.