A number of Filipino showbiz, news, and political personalities took to the social networking site Twitter to express their grief over Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo’s untimely passing.

Robredo, along with his aide, Capt. Jhun Abrasado, had boarded a small Piper Seneca plane to fly to Naga after attending a forum and awarding ceremonies in Cebu on August 18. According to a report by ABS-CBNNews.com, the plane experienced engine trouble along the way, forcing the pilot, Capt. Jessup Bahinting, to attempt an emergency landing in Masbate. Masbate Vice Governor Vince Revil said that the plane had crashed around 150 meters away from the airport at around 4:30 p.m. Abrasado was the only person to have survived the crash. On August 21, Robredo’s body was brought to the shore at around 8:40 a.m.

The 54-year-old Robredo began his political career at 29 when he won the mayoral post in his hometown, Naga city, in 1988. He won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service in 2000 for his efforts in transforming Naga into a first-class city and was appointed by President Benigno Aquino III as secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in 2010.

Scroll through the gallery to take a look at a few messages for the late DILG secretary from a number of local personalities.

(Screencap of Jesse Robredo via YouTube; photos of Lucy Torres-Gomez and Kris Aquino courtesy of PEP.ph)