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BY LUIS BUENAFLOR JR.
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WHEN it rains, it pours. The last days of 2017 and the first days of 2018 have been raining torrents for former World Mayor No. 5 Jed Mabilog. There seems to be no let up for him as the hits keep on coming. Jed has been hit with a knockout punch and is still probably groggy from it.
Just when Marivic Mabilog thinks it’s safe to come out on Facebook, here comes another knockout punch sending Jed reeling to the floor. In a span of two months, he has been hit with a double whammy effectively ending his hopes of a comeback.
Here are excerpts from the Jan. 3 issue of PhilStar.com:
Mabilog dismissed anew
The Office of the Ombudsman has issued another dismissal order against former Iloilo City mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, this time, over an alleged anomalous towing services deal entered in 2015 with a firm he allegedly owned.
In a decision recently signed by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, Mabilog was found guilty of administrative offenses of grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
Aside from his dismissal, the Ombudsman has also ordered Mabilog’s perpetual disqualification from holding public office, forfeiture of his retirement benefits and cancelation of his civil service eligibility.
It can be remembered that the Ombudsman, in October last year, ordered Mabilog’s dismissal from service for serious dishonesty in connection with his alleged questionable wealth amounting P8.9 million. The Ombudsman said Mabilog failed to properly account his sources of wealth in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth in 2012 and 2013.
The first dismissal order was implemented by the Department of Interior and Local Government on Oct. 30. Mabilog was replaced by then Iloilo City vice mayor Jose Espinosa III.
In November, the Court of Appeals junked Mabilog’s petition seeking to nullify the Ombudsman’s first dismissal order.
The Ombudsman’s Public Information and Media Relations Bureau clarified that since Mabilog was no longer in service, the new dismissal order is convertible to a fine equivalent to his salary for one year as city mayor.
Yes, definitely its goodbye for Jed Mabilog as far as his political life is concerned; his first appeal was junked. Do you really think there’s any chance for a second appeal? The chances are about the same as Noynoy Aquino actually fulfilling a campaign promise having himself run over by a train should the construction of an MRT line from Cavite fail to materialize during his term.
We all know that the construction never happened and much to the disappointment of the majority of the natives, Noynoy Aquino never had himself run over by a train.
And now back to former World Mayor No. 5 Jed Mabilog who probably never imagined that this is going to happen to him. He was feeling smug and secure that Mar “Daang Matuwid” Roxas would be the next President of the Republic. Not in his wildest dreams did it occur to him that a “small-time” mayor from Davao City would defy all odds and be the next President of the Republic.
Now if only Jed could turn back the hands of time and be more magnanimous when they were in power; if only he gave Rodrigo Duterte permit to hold his rally at the Freedom Grandstand or perhaps if only they didn’t turn off the power in the middle of Duterte’s rally in La Paz Plaza, or created traffic in the roads leading to La Paz Plaza during that rally.
“Alas, poor Yorick”, even Mar “Daang Matuwid” Roxas’ bailiwick, the Precinct Count Optical Scanners or PCOS machines, were not enough to stem the tide of a Duterte victory.
The “I will kill drugs” cry was not enough, likewise for the hastily and desperately organized “Drugs Summit.” Even the pictures with the “Duterte fist” didn’t work. Jed was doomed and it was just a matter of time.
Perhaps the violent end of mayors Rolando Espinosa (Albuera, Leyte) and Reynaldo Parojinog (Ozamiz City) who, like Jed, were in President Duterte’s list of narco-politicians, made him think twice, so ostensibly to attend a seminar in Japan and Malaysia, Jed Mabilog left “I Am Iloilo City” with his family. And that was the last time the natives saw him.
In a previous column moi said that Jed Mabilog’s legacy is being the only mayor of “I Am Iloilo City” to be dismissed and banned from public office for life by the Ombudsman. Moi stands corrected. He is the only mayor of “I Am Iloilo City” to be dismissed and banned from public office by the Ombudsman twice. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com)/PN
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