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[av_heading heading=’NO EVIDENCE VS JED – PDEA | Probers can’t find mayor’s link to illegal drug trade’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
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Thursday, March 30, 2017
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ILOILO City – There were not enough bases to link Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog to illegal drugs, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 6 despite President Rodrigo Duterte’s repeated assertions against this city’s chief executive.
Assistant Director Levi Ortiz said their regional office conducted a thorough investigation for months.
“As far as PDEA-6 is concerned, wala tayong nakitang sapat na dahilan or evidence to link Mayor Mabilog to the illegal drug trade,” Ortiz told Panay News.
The official said the investigation and revalidation of information on public officials allegedly involved in illegal drugs were continuing.
“Hindi siya (Mabilog) included with those now under investigation ng PDEA. Wala ang pangalan n’ya,” said Ortiz.
However, the assistant director did not discount the possibility that other law enforcement units or “groups” may have information on Mabilog that PDEA-6 did not have, and these may have reached the President.
“In fairness kay Mayor Mabilog, he is supportive sa lahat ng programa natin against illegal drugs,” said Ortiz.
He also said the mayor does not meddle in PDEA-6’s antidrug operations.
“Baka may nakitang dahilan or evidence ang ating Pangulo kaya nabanggit ang pangalan niya. Pero sa ating office, hindi siya kasali sa ating iniimbestigahan sa ngayon,” Ortiz told Panay News.
Since Aug. 7, 2016 when he first tagged Mabilog an illegal drugs protector, Duterte repeated his accusation four more times – the most recent was on March 14 during a dinner meeting with the Senate’s majority bloc in Malacañang. This was made just a day after he reiterated the same during a press briefing in the Palace.
The President, however, has not offered any evidence and Mabilog has not been charged with anything criminally or administratively related to illegal drugs.
Alarmed, Mabilog told this paper he would write the President to clear his name.
Last week of January 2017, Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) sources told Panay News that Mabilog’s name was not in the regional office’s validated list of drug personalities in Western Visayas. But nobody from the PRO-6 would confirm or deny this.
According to a source who asked for anonymity for lack of authority to speak on the matter, the regional police director, Chief Superintendent Jose Gentiles, himself spoke with Mabilog about the validated list.
Reached by Panay News, Gentiles gave a terse reply through text: “I cannot disclose that. Confirm it from the mayor, not from me.”
Mabilog issued the following statement to this paper: “I cannot confirm the report. What I can guarantee (is) that Iloilo City under my leadership is doing its all-out best to fight illegal drugs and run after and clear Iloilo City of drug personalities.”
According to an aide of Mabilog, however, the mayor was “very happy.”
By the first week of February, the Department of Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) Task Force Agila clarified that none of the Iloilo mayors President Duterte linked to illegal drugs had been cleared yet.
The task force was formed to investigate public officials that the President named and shamed in August last year. The four mayors from Iloilo were Mabilog of this city, Mariano Malones of Maasin, Sigfriedo Betita of Carles, and Alex Centena of Calinog.
All the mayors denied involvement in illegal drugs.
Task force chairman and DILG undersecretary John Castriciones said he had no idea about the PRO-6 list.
“So there appears to be two different lists. Task Force Agila is investigating the first list,” said Castriciones in a radio interview.
Regarding the second list, he said, “Ang alam po namin ibibigay po ‘yun sa DILG, at ang DILG po ang mag iimbistiga din po n’yan sa pamamagitan ng aming regional task force.”
“Pero kung ‘yan po ay talagang pinadala ni Presidente Duterete, yun po ang masusunod,” Castriciones said./PN
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