COME BACK, CLEAR NAME, ROQUE URGES JED

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BY IME SORNITO and PRINCE GOLEZ
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Sunday, March 11, 2018
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Seek court protection if life in danger, Mabilog told

ILOILO City – If he wants to clear his name, former mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog should come back to the country, according to the spokesman of President Rodrigo Duterte.

And if there was indeed a threat to his and his family’s lives, they can turn to the court for protection, Harry Roque said yesterday.

“Flight is evidence of guilt,” Roque told a press briefing in Alimodian, Iloilo, reiterating the comment he made last month after Mabilog’s wife Maria Victoria said Duterte did not have proof that her husband was involved in drug trafficking.

The President has repeatedly linked Mabilog to the drug trade since tagging him a “drug protector” in August 2016.

Mabilog and his family left the country on Aug. 31, 2017. They were still abroad. Their exact whereabouts were unknown but they were widely believed to be in Canada.

“Kung gusto niyang linisin ang pangalan niya, umuwi siya dito at harapin ang mga bintang laban sa kaniya,” said Roque, who was in Alimodian as a guest in the Himud-os Festival. Mayor Geefre Alonsabe invited him.

“Pero habang siya (Mabilog) ay nagtatago, continuing evidence of guilt,” the spokesman said.

Asked by the press how Mabilog could ensure his and his family’s safety if he decides to return to the country, Roque said the former city chief executive has options.

“If he (Mabilog) really thinks there is a threat to his life,” the Malacañang official said, “[he could] file a [petition for] writ of amparo.”

While they had nothing to hide, Maria Victoria previously said, they feared the President was intent on eliminating them.

In several speeches, Duterte had railed against Mabilog. Just on Wednesday last week he said in a speech in Tarlac, referring to the former mayor: “Hindi na siya umuwi kasi papatayin ko talaga siya.”

The petition for writ of amparo, according to the Supreme Court, is “a remedy available to any person whose right to life, liberty and security is violated or threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity.”

It may be filed “on any day and at any time with the regional trial court of the place where the threat, act or omission was committed or any of its elements occurred, or with the Sandiganbayan, the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court, or any justice of such courts,” and “shall be enforceable anywhere in the Philippines.”

The petition may be filed by the aggrieved party or by any qualified person or entity in the following order:

1. Any member of the immediate family, namely: the spouse, children and parents of the aggrieved party;
2. Any ascendant, descendant or collateral relative of the aggrieved party within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity, in default of those mentioned in the preceding paragraph; or
3. Any concerned citizen, organization, association or institution, if there is no known member of the immediate family or relative of the aggrieved party.

Maria Victoria also earlier claimed in a Facebook post that “intelligence reports reveal that Jed (Mabilog) was never involved in any illegal drug trade or activity.” She also challenged Duterte to release his “validated” drug list.

Roque insisted that Mabilog was in a drug list of the government, information on which were from various law enforcement agents.

Asked why Mabilog has not yet been charged, Roque said: “In the first place, we’re not saying we will not do that, but it’s not my business to make public what government will and will not do.”

Moreover, the presidential spokesman clarified that Duterte had no “personal hatred” against Mabilog.

“Wala naman silang personal na relasyon, bakit magkakaroon ng personal hatred?” said Roque.

As to Maria Victoria’s comment that Duterte was mentally ill, the Palace official just shrugged this off.

“I don’t respond to people who are not worthy of any response. She’s one of them,” Roque stressed./PN
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