1 week Ago By Jeline Malasig
Naga City became a first-class city during the term of the late Jesse Robredo , who previously served as its mayor, according to his wife, former vice president Leni Robredo . Leni on Thursday, April 10, addressed circulating claims that her hometown “never became a first-class city under Jesse Robredo’s term.” “Setting the record straight,” the Angat Buhay NGO chair said in a Facebook post, sharing a screenshot of a Google search result about her late husband, sourced from the Ramon Magsaysay Foundation website .
“Naga rose from its third-class status to becoming a first-class city in 1990, during Jesse’s first term as Mayor,” Leni said. Leni’s post has received 24,000 and over 870 shares on the platform. The screengrab she shared was an excerpt from the profile of the former Naga City mayor, who was honored with the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service in 2000.
He was the first Filipino mayor to receive this award. Jesse was described by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation as a “Filipino icon for good governance because of sheer dedication, untarnished reputation, and visionary leadership as the 3-term Mayor of Naga City.” It also said that he “revitalized” Naga City’s economy, helping it regain its status as a “first-class city” through initiatives such as cracking down on local vice lords, organizing city roads, encouraging new enterprises, and combating patronage politics, among others.
“The RMAF board of trustees recognizes his giving credence to the promise of democracy by demonstrating that effective city management is compatible with yielding power to the people,” the foundation said. Jesse was Naga City’s mayor from 1988 to 1998. Meanwhile, Leni is running for the same position in the 2025 midterm elections , saying that she is looking forward to doing “community work” the most.
The former vice president garnered the second-highest number of votes in the 2022 presidential elections, which were won by former senator and now President Ferdinand Marcos Jr..
