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BY LUIS BUENAFLOR JR.
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Jed should just resign
ALL is not well in “I Am Iloilo”, the “Most Liveable City” that is for former World Mayor No. 5 Jed Patrick Mabilog. And it’s not because the streets turn into raging rivers every time it rains hard or the city has the highest rates for electricity in the world. And it’s not even about the unsafe meat from the city slaughterhouse and the fact that the natives are being killed in traffic accidents because speed limits are not enforced.
It is inevitable that something is going to happen to Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog and he knows it’s going to be bad, really bad for him. It could spell the end of his political career and perhaps his freedom.
Since that fateful night when President Rodrigo Duterte announced on public television that Mayor Jed Mabilog of Iloilo City is a protector of illegal drugs and at the same time labelling Iloilo City as the “most shabu-lized” city, Jed has been walking on a tightrope.
Jed has been stripped by President Duterte of his supervision and control of the police in Iloilo City, making him a “lame duck” mayor.
So far nothing has really happened to Jed yet except perhaps for that pathetic “surrender” to the chief of the Philippine National Police wherein he appeared on national television looking like a little boy afraid to be scolded.
Jed knows that when it comes, any of these can happen – he will be investigated and suspended; he will be arrested and imprisoned or worse, he might suffer the same fate of convicted pusher Melvin Odicta Sr.
It does not really make any difference which happens first or all of the above because they all spell the end for Jed. If, indeed, they do happen I’m pretty sure a lot of the natives will celebrate, who knows there might even be singing and dancing in the streets.
Jed has lost his credibility and what little respect he has from the natives. All his attempts at defending himself and losing the “drug protector” tag just show his desperation. He continues to hold on as chairman of the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (BADAC) which makes him more look ridiculous; where in the world can you find the head of an anti-drug abuse council that was singled out by the President as a “drug protector”?
Jed is fighting a lonely losing battle. His allies seem to have abandoned him. Cong. Jerry Treñas is now feeling safe and secure with President Duterte’s people. Do you think he’ll risk himself to help Jed? I don’t think so. Tito Frank Drilon is on survival mode and considering his cousin Jed is now a liability, he won’t touch him with a 10-foot pole.
Jed is not Leila de Lima; he does not have the full support and financial resources of the “Daang Matuwid” unlike de Lima who is their spearhead in the fight to claim back Malacañang. Jed is just collateral.
In fact, Edgar Matobato is in a much better situation than Jed; he has the full support of the “Daang Matuwid” plus senators Antonio Trillanes, de Lima and Drilon.
It’s really looking bleak for Jed. His “best friend forever” (BFF) Jing-jing Espinosa is already incarcerated; Melvin “Dragon” Odicta Sr. had been terminated. Perhaps the only support Jed can count on are the 5,000 strong “job orders” in City Hall. Wait, were their contracts renewed?
Jed should just resign, forget politics and get out while he still can and look forward to spending quality time with his wife and family.
Here’s some words of wisdom from the late George Harrison: “All things must pass; none of life’s strings can last so I must be on my way and face another day.” Seems appropriate for Jed Patrick Mabilog./PN
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