ILOILO City – Former mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog disclosed an alleged plot during the Duterte administration to coerce him into implicating former senators Franklin Drilon and Mar Roxas to illegal drugs, using the so-called “drug war” to run after political rivals and critics.
Roxas ran for president in 2016 and although he lost to eventual winner President Rodrigo Duterte, he won in Iloilo City, with Duterte getting only 13.7% of the total number of votes in the metro, his lowest percentage votes all over the country, according to Mabilog.
Drilon, on the other hand, was a leading opposition figure during the Duterte administration and campaigned for Roxas during the 2016 presidential elections. He and Mabilog were cousins.
During his testimony to the House quad-committee yesterday, Mabilog – whom Duterte repeatedly accused of being a drug protector – recounted events following his August 2017 departure to Japan for a speaking engagement in an international conference.
He detailed a phone conversation with former Western Visayas police director Police Brigadier General Bernardo Diaz who instructed him to contact then-Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronaldo “Bato” dela Rosa, now a senator.
Mabilog said dela Rosa coaxed him to come back to the country on the promise that he would help the mayor clear his name with Duterte. “Naawa na ako sa inyo, inosente ka,” Mabilog quoted dela Rosa as saying.
“Upon arrival (in Japan), I received a message from General Diaz, to call a number. Using a public payphone, I made the call and spoke to General Bato who expressed his sympathy. He was talking to me in Bisaya. He told me he knew I was innocent, that I wasn’t involved in illegal drugs, and he promised to help me. His words brought a brief moment of hope,” Mabilog recounted before the committee, which was investigating the Duterte administration’s drug war policies.
THE PLOT
Mabilog’s narrative continued, recalling a subsequent warning from another police official cautioning him against returning to the Philippines due to risks of being forced to falsely identify Roxas and Drilon as drug lords.
“I told him (dela Rosa) I would finish my work abroad and return to meet him, but he urged me to be careful, repeating his pledge to help. It’s just after that call my Philippine cellphone rang, this time it was another general, his voice was grim: Mayor, do not return, your life is in danger. The accusations against you are all fabricated, but if you go to Crame, you’ll be forced to point fingers to an opposition senator and a former presidential candidate as drug lords,” he added.
In response to questioning by Abang Lingkod party-list’s Cong. Joseph Stephen Paduano, Mabilog confirmed that the former presidential candidate was Roxas and the opposition senator was Drilon.
“You mentioned that if you went to Camp Crame, two things may happen […] you were told that you will pinpoint a certain former senator and a certain presidentiable. Can you mention again the name of that senator and that presidentiable?” Paduano asked Mabilog.
“Your Honor, if I could write the names also,” the ex-mayor replied.
“If I asked you, better you answer by yes or no, is it former senator Mar Roxas? Is it former senator Drilon, who is your cousin?” Paduano pressed.
“Yes, sir,” Mabilog answered.
Roxas and Drilon could not be reached for comment as of this writing.
After the unnamed general’s call, Mabilog said he no longer believed in dela Rosa’s sincerity. It was obvious, according to him, that the general was privy to the plan because the call was made only a few minutes after his conversation with the former PNP chief.
Mabilog said he felt a chill in his spine and decided not to return. He instead proceeded to the United States where he subsequent sought political asylum.
The former mayor agreed to name the general in a handwritten note to the quad-committee.
Paduano said it appears politics is the mere motive for Mabilog’s inclusion in the Duterte administration’s narco-list.
‘ALL ABOUT POLITICS’
“So Mr. Chairman, the reason why I am asking this is because from the very start of the statement, the affidavit of Jed Mabilog and his preliminary remarks, it is all about politics. That’s why Duterte’s list again, from the statement of Col. (Jovie) Espenido it appears that it has not gone through vetting and validation,” he noted.
Mabilog said he had wanted to meet with Duterte to know the basis for his inclusion in the narco-list. The meeting never materialized.
Asked by congressmen why he was included, Mabilog said he could only surmise that the former President had an axe to grind against him because he is a second cousin to Drilon, a Liberal Party stalwart.
Mabilog added that Duterte’s 2016 election campaign rally in Iloilo City was crippled by a power outage which the former president blamed on the mayor.
Duterte also attempted to meet with him during the campaign but he was unable to do so because Mabilog said he was in Manila pushing for a big project for Iloilo City.
Yesterday’s House quad-committee inquiry also touched on broader issues, with Mabilog urging legislative action to reform law enforcement practices, which he claimed were misused for political persecution.
Mabilog, who had not returned to the Philippines since 2017 until last week to clear his name, emphasized that no legal actions had been pursued against him regarding Duterte’s drug allegations.
He pointed out that despite being linked by Duterte to illegal drugs, no cases were filed against him.
The House quad-committee is composed of the committee on dangerous drugs, committee on public order and safety, committee on public accounts, and committee on human rights./PN
