August 22, 2012 News: The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) extended its sympathies to the family and relatives of the late Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Jesse Robredo, who died in a plane crash in the waters off Masbate last August 18.

Mohagher Iqbal, chair of the MILF peace panel, made the condolence in behalf of the MILF Central Committee and the MILF Peace Panel, saying that the death of Robredo is not only a loss to the family and relatives and to the Aquino administration but also to the peace-making in Mindanao.

He said that Robredo has been a strong supporter for the peaceful settlement of the Moro Question and the armed conflict in Mindanao.

“I know Robredo personally when we happened to be invited at a forum on peace process in Penang, Malaysia earlier this year and even at first impression, he is an amiable person,” Iqbal said.

“May the family have the strength in this most difficult moment,” Iqbal said in a statement released to Luwaran today.

On Tuesday morning, a government spokesman broke the news that technical divers recovered Robredo’s body 800 meters from the shore at a depth of 180 feet at past 8 a.m.

Robredo is survived by his wife, lawyer Leni Mercado, and his three daughters—Aika, 23; Patricia, 18; and Jillian, 13.

On August 18, the aircraft – a four-seat, twin-engine Piper Seneca – took off from central Cebu city and was heading to Robredo's hometown of Naga city in Camarines Sur province when the pilot informed the Masbate airport that it would make an emergency landing. The plane was unable to reach the airport and crashed into the sea.

Robredo is one of the members of the Cabinet closest to President Benigno Aquino III and helped his election campaign in 2010.