Meet the VP’s VIP
Sally Gerona talks about raising the country’s second-in-command
The car pulled into a quiet street in sunny Naga City, in front of a well-kept bungalow that had elements of the architectural style that was popular in the 1970s. This is where schoolteacher Salvacion “Sally” Gerona raised her three children: Ma. Lourdes (Malou), Antonio Jr. (Bong), and her eldest, Philippine Vice President Leni Gerona Robredo. There is a small garden with a little grotto of the Virgin Mary, a little patio, and a garage that kept a car and a tricycle. This is a house that reflects modest living, a home that would easily fit into a middle-class community anywhere else in the Philippines.
The team was welcomed in- to the house, and ushered into a comfortable living room. Mommy Sally makes a brief appearance, asking for a little time to get ready for the photo shoot as she is still in her house clothes. This gives the team time to wander through her home, to look at the framed family photos taken through the years. The biggest of which is a black-andwhite wedding photo of a svelte Mommy Sally and her dashing late husband, Bicol Regional Trial Court Judge Antonio N. Gerona Sr. Many of these were photos of her children and their families, one of which is a familiar picture of the VP with her three children and husband.
She emerges a few minutes later, in a simple outfit of pants and a blouse, with minimal makeup. Mommy Sally is a sprightly 80 years old, her resemblance to the VP is uncanny. “The only features she didn’t get from me are her eyes. She has her father’s eyes,” she says.
It was a trip down memory lane, as our gracious hostess launched into stories about Leni’s childhood and took out her photo albums. “I was always a working mom. She was my eldest and I brought her with me to school when she was a toddler. She would sit it in my class and copy what I wrote on the blackboard, even if she did not understand the words.”
Soon enough, her eldest had learned how to read, and spent her time burying her nose in reading materials. “Our neighbor could tell you that my chil-
dren are often at their store, renting comics. They had those hardbound classics of stories such as Ivanhoe, Pollyanna, and the Secret Garden. Then she graduated to reading Nancy Drew.”
Very quiet child
Leni was always reading, and a very quiet child. “I was surprised when she came out as the class salutatorian in kindergarten. But then again, I always made sure that she did her schoolwork.” Mommy Sally also remembered how Leni shunned the stage. She was a theater arts teacher, but Leni never liked acting. “She joined academic contests, she wrote scripts, and would even be the person who raised the curtains, but she never wanted to act.” I made her take ballet and piano lessons. She can still play the piano now, but her daughters are better. She joined the Girl Scouts, and that was what she liked.”
Her eldest surprised her again when she entered politics. “Before, her husband was the only politician in the family, she worked behind the scenes. But later on, when her husband died and she ran in the elections, I thought to myself, does she know how to talk? Whatwill she do there -- she has to join a debate and might not be able to do anything. But she performed very well, I said ‘ kudos! You have been hiding your talent!’” she shares.
Of course, Mommy Sally was always about supporting her children’s dreams. VP Leni had wanted to take up Medicine and took the entrance exams at the University of Santo Tomas (UST). But she also passed the UPCAT and decided to go to UP instead. “Those were the days before everything was computerized. We had to line up in the early morning for enrollment. When she needed money, I would go to Manila to bring it to her dorm. I would ride the ikot jeepney, and because I could not distinguish one building from another, I would miss my stop several times!” she laughs.
Nowabit of chismis: At first, the veep’s parents did not approve of Jesse Robredo. Leni had graduated from her Economics course, and they advised her to rest for a year before taking up Law. This was when she started working for the Bicol River Basin Development Program. “Jesse was the director, and months later, we found out that they were dating. When we were told that they had planned to get married, we told her that she was too young. She was only 23 at the time and she was still to take up her Law studies. ‘You also need to study each other first,’ my husband even told them. But their minds were made up and as a parent, all you can do is support their decisions,” she smiles. Instead of going to Manila to study, Leni chose to stay in Naga and take up Law at the University of Nueva Caceres, her father’s alma mater so she can take care of her family.
Sally says she could not be prouder of how her daughter balanced her home life and her studies and eventually her work. She also mentioned how passionate Leni was in helping the people during her husband’s campaign. She was pregnant with Aika then, but she still drove and went to the far-flung places to bring campaign staff their food.
Then, as her children grew, Leni was very hands-on, taking them to school and swim classes even as she was busy with work. “Her approach is different. When my children were growing up, I was teaching and taking up my doctorate studies. I taught my children to be independent. I would leave them on the portico of my school when they were younger, and they would play with the office girls. Their father would pick us all up at the end of my classes.” They were very well-behaved, “I was blessed!” she chuckles.
Devotees of Our Lady of Peñafrancia
Faith plays an integral role in their family. They are devotees of Our Lady of Peñafrancia, even going barefoot at the dawn procession on the Traslacion. “We also prayed the rosary every 6 p.m. and went to hear Mass together all the time.” Mommy Sally still hears Mass every day. It is her first activity each morning.
The rest of the time is filled with her work as a graduate school teacher and household tasks such as doing the marketing and paying bills. She has taken up painting and is also very active with volunteer work at the Marillac Home for the Aged. “I do fundraising, and I take care of their food, their beddings and even their daster. When we go to church, some of them bring all their belongings. I ask them, ‘why do you have a maleta?’ They have Alzheimer’s, you see.” Leni has the same heart for the less fortunate, which became evident when she started working for the Public Attorney’s Office. “She would come home and tell us about the cases she handled, where the poor were put at a disadvantage by those who had more money.”
She is also very close to her grandchildren, who call her “Mommy” and her late husband “Daddy.” “They used to stay here at our house and their parents would pick them up after work. When they go to Naga, this is their first stop.” She adds that she is very proud of Aika for being accepted into Harvard. Of Leni, she says, they do not meet as often. “When she comes here, she is always so busy! Well, I am busy too. Sometimes, she drops by and I am not here! That is why her staff has to call me and say ‘don’t leave the house, Ma’am Leni is coming today!”
She says Leni is committed to the work that she is doing for the country. Her daughter has tried to shield her from all the social media mayhem. “She told me not to read anything. Before, I usually answer the posts, I used to explain. She told me, “Mommy, it will stress you so much. Don’t read them anymore. Now, the moment I read the first sentence and it is from trolls, I stop there.”
The proud mom says that her advice for her children has remained the same throughout the years. “Do the best you can do. If you are really passionate about something don’t run away when there is a challenge. Love your work.”