JUST ANOTHER DAY

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BY LUIS BUENAFLOR JR.
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Is this the end for Jed Mabilog?

YES, definitely as far as being city mayor, that is.

Jed’s term ends after three years and as the law provides, one is only allowed three terms for mayor. This is his third term; it is really the end of the road.

Whatever happens, Jed Mabilog will not only be the person formerly known as World Mayor No. 5 but also the former mayor of Iloilo City.
But is this the end of Jed Mabilog as a political animal? He’s relatively young; just turned 51 a few days ago.

He also seems to be in the pink of health (pun intended, hehehe). The next logical step for him is to run for Congress and this is where the fun begins, or to wait it out for a term and let his wife take his place as a candidate for city mayor.

Of course, we are talking here of a normal flow of local politics. The thing is, Rodrigo Duterte won as president and if that was not bad enough for Jed and his jaundiced cohorts, President Duterte announced on public television that Iloilo City mayor Jed Mabilog is an illegal drugs protector and in the same stride labelled Iloilo as the most “shabu-lized” city.

And that’s when things started going downhill for Jed. He was stripped by the President of his police security, likewise supervision and control of the police in Iloilo City, effectively making him a lame duck.

Meanwhile, the attention of everyone is on the events happening in the Senate and Congress. They may seem unrelated to Iloilo City and Mayor Jed Mabilog but it’s a prelude to what may happen to him.

The agony that’s being experienced by Sen. Leila de Lima as she is being “fingered” by witnesses in the investigations in Congress could very well happen to Jed when his own investigations start.

“Careless whispers” say the investigations may start by next month. It would be an unpleasant sight to see the former World Mayor No. 5 “fingered” by witness after witness in that investigation.

The sad part of the whole scenario is that Jed appears to be abandoned by his former allies. Cong. Jerry Treñas is now safely in the ranks of President Duterte’s party and could not even guarantee Jed’s entry.

Sen. Franklin Drilon is no longer the “big man” in Senate although he’s still big in terms of weight. And pretty soon he will be fighting his own battles that he can no longer defend Jed. He may be the next to experience a “Leila de Lima” fingering.

Remember the move to divide Iloilo City into two congressional districts? We all know that the ultimate motive of that is to accommodate Mayor Mabilog, Vice Mayor Joe Espinosa III and Congressman Treñas as their terms ends simultaneously. From what I gathered in coffee shops, talk is that the plan was for Jerryboy to run for mayor while Jed runs for congressman in the 1rst District and Joe III runs also for congressman in the 2nd District. This arrangement makes them all and their wives happy since they don’t oppose each other and still retain control of “I Am Iloilo.”
That plan seems to be now gathering dust in the bin. Without much fanfare President Duterte unwittingly removed Jed Mabilog from the equation so much so the division of Iloilo City into two districts is no longer necessary.
You know, I hate to say it but I sort of pity Jed Mabilog. I don’t think he’s really a bad fellow, greedy maybe. In the end, that will cause his downfall and it looks like a hard fall./PN

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