BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – Will former mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog run in the upcoming May 2025 midterm elections?
“Sa politika sa subong, pahuway lang ko anay. Ang Ginoo lang makabalo kon magdalagan pa ko or indi na,” said Mabilog in a press briefing upon his return to this city yesterday for the first time in seven years.
Mabilog was visibly moved by the warm welcome he received from supporters whom he had not seen since August 2017 when he fled the country after being linked to illegal drugs by then-president Rodrigo Duterte.
He told his supporters and the inquisitive press: “Indi na ako magplano sang akon kabuhi. Dapat surrender lang naton tanan sa Ginoo, kay kon ano gusto niya, matabo gid ina. Submit to the will of God and trust the Lord.”
But Mabilog said in jest that he could work as a program host for his friend Cong. Julienne Baronda who is widely expected to seek reelection.
The former mayor spent the past seven years living in exile in the United States.
Mayor Jerry Treñas, who is seeking reelection, earlier acknowledged that Mabilog would be a “worthy opponent” if the latter again.
Mabilog paid Treñas a courtesy visit yesterday morning. At the City Mayor’s Office, he was welcomed with a birthday cake as it was the former mayor’s 59th birthday.
“All my political opponents are worthy. My rule is that, when it comes to politics, dapat politika lang gid na. We will do our best and we cannot say that we are strong kag indi ta pagtuod-tuodon ang ubra ta. Basta politika, tuod-tuodon gid na ya,” said Treñas.
Mabilog faces legal and political hurdles, including the need for potential executive clemency to clear his disqualification from public office. The Office of the Ombudsman sacked Mabilog over an allegedly anomalous vehicle towing contract in 2015.
The case stemmed from an Iloilo City government contract awarded to 3L Towing Services in January 2015, which investigators found did not undergo public bidding.
Hence, Mabilog cannot run for any local elective post unless he can secure executive clemency before the filing of his certificate of candidacy (CoC) scheduled on Oct. 1 to 8, 2024. The obstacle that bars Mabilog from running again for mayor is contained in Section 40(b) of the Local Government Code, which provides that those removed from office as a result of an administrative case are disqualified from holding public office.
Section 19, Article VII of the Constitution also provides that the President may grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons, and remit fines and forfeitures, after conviction by final judgment.
Executive clemency is granted exclusively within the sound discretion of the President and is exercised to prevent a miscarriage of justice or correct a manifest injustice. In a case decided by the Supreme Court, the tribunal ruled that executive clemency applies to administrative cases.
“It is our considered view that if the President can grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons, and remit fines and forfeitures in criminal cases, with much more reason can she grant executive clemency in administrative cases, which are less serious than criminal offenses,” the SC held in the case Llamas vs Osbos.
Mabilog voiced confidence that he and his family would get justice under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
While he acknowledged that Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs was a positive initiative, Mabilog emphasized that the issue of illegal drugs is a global problem, not just limited to the Philippines.
Mabilog pointed out that drug-related challenges affect countries worldwide, and tackling this issue requires comprehensive, multi-faceted solutions beyond localized efforts.
“We should prepare our law enforcers from ground up by equipping them with substantial knowledge to deal with the campaign against illegal drugs kag indi pwed ibasol sa iban or gamiton para gub-on ang kontra sa politika,” he said.
In his testimony before the House of Representatives quad-committee on Thursday, Mabilo theorized that Duterte might have linked him to the illegal drug trade because he is a second cousin of former senator Franklin Drilon, then an opposition leader.
Secondly, Mabilog said he could have gotten the ire of then Davao City mayor and presidential candidate Duterte when the latter’s campaign rally in La Paz district got marred by a power outage.
“Before the campaign, gusto niya po makipagkita sa akin. But unfortunately, I was not able to meet him because I was on official travel to Manila for a big project,” said Mabilog.
Even before Duterte became president, Mabilog recalled that Iloilo City was always compared to Davao City.
He concluded that his inclusion on the list of Duterte’s narco-politicians was because of politics. “President Duterte got only 13.7 percent in the total number of votes in Iloilo City, which was his lowest vote (in the 2016 presidential elections),” said Mabilog.
After he was tagged as a narco-politician, Mabilog said the chief of police at that time instructed him to surrender all his firearms.
“All my security personnel were later relieved. I went to the newly installed regional police director and asked about the next thing to do. I also told him about all my campaigns against anti-illegal drugs,” said Mabilog.
He pointed out that no drug-related charges were filed against him in any office or court. He believed it was indeed Duterte who put him on the list of narco-politicians.
Congresswoman Baronda is hopeful that the testimony of Mabilog before the House’s quad committee on September 19 would bring about justice and vindication for himself and his family, and the Ilonggo community.
In a statement issued through her spokesperson, Pastor Stanley Flores, Baronda said Mabilog was able to prove his innocence, anticipating that his testimony may also “disabuse the minds of those who succumbed to the lie that Iloilo City was then the most shabulized city.
“I salute former Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog for bravely recounting before God and country the ordeal and traumatic experience he and his family went through after he was publicly demonized and vilified as a drug protector, and threatened with assassination by the former dispensation,” said Baronda.
“The dark and very painful episode in his life and that of his wife and children may have taken place 7 years ago, but Mayor Mabilog’s spirit remains scarred. I pray that this opportunity granted by the Quad Committee of the House of Representatives contributes to his healing and that of his family,” she added./PN
