Duterte’s ‘war’ against Mabilog

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BY HERBERT VEGO
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Thursday, September 7, 2017
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WILL Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog sue President Rodrigo Duterte for violation of the new law the latter has just signed?

Article 154, Section 18 of Republic Act 10951 provides a penalty of arresto mayor and fine ranging from P40,000 to P200,000 for persons spreading fake news that might affect public order.

Well, a sitting President is immune from suit. But, yes, Duterte purveyed fake news when he said that the Iloilo City mayor “escaped to Japan and living luxuriously there.”  The reason Mabilog flew to Japan was to attend a multinational conference on disaster management.

But before Mabilog could come home, the President cussed him anew over the fake news that the mayor had offered P1-million for the “finder” of recently-slain drug lord Richard Prevendido: “Bobolahin pa ako ng putang ina. ‘Wag mo akong salsalin ng ganun. Ang tagal ko na sa gobyerno. Ililibing na nga ako.”

One used to hear similar incoherent statements only from “drugged” individuals trying to escape reality. No doubt he is saddled with the controversy linking his son Paolo to the P6.4-billion shipment of shabu that passed the green lane of the Bureau of Customs.

I voted for Duterte, believing in his promise to eradicate illegal drugs and graft and corruption. Sorry, I was wrong.  The police have already killed more EJK victims on “self defense” than shabu did to its users.

Why should we not rage when no less than the President falsely tags Iloilo “most shabulized city” and “bedrock of illegal drugs”?  On the contrary, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Caloocan City is the most drug-affected, followed by Las Piñas, Makati, Marikina and Muntinglupa; Duterte’s Davao City is 20th; and Iloilo City is 51st.

Ironically, the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Iloilo City has not lifted a finger to denounce the President’s prejudice.  Since these councilors were the same people who had opposed the resolution endorsing the Senate inquiry on the illegal drug problem during the PNoy presidency, shouldn’t they have atoned for that sin of omission by defending the mayor and the city?

Once again we are reminded of how German dictator Adolf Hitler listened to his propagandist Joseph Goebbels, who advised him, “If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself.”

Mabilog must be reeling from the notion that his political survival rests on supporting the President’s “war on drugs.”  He has been very showy about it to the point of “saluting” Duterte by unashamedly thrusting a fist forward. His PR men constantly harp on the awards he had received from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in 2014 to 2016 for “continuous contribution to the success of campaign against illegal drugs.” These are obvious indications that, though proceeding from a position of weakness, he would willingly join the ruling PDP-Laban party at first opportunity.

Mabilog’s stronger alternative would have been to denounce his inclusion in “Duterte’s list” – which is nothing but an unsubstantiated enumeration of suspected narco-politicians, drug lords and their protectors, including five police generals. No case has been filed against anybody in the list that has yet to be declassified.

It is understandable that the relatives and friends of Mabilog are worried. It is never safe to assume that non-guilt would save him from suffering the fate of two mayors in the list – Albuera, Leyte’s Rolando Espinosa Sr. and Ozamiz City’s Reynaldo Parojinog – who were obviously rubbed out by the police freely under disconnected CCTV cameras.

In the light of that reality, the mayor’s better half Marivic yesterday posted this on Facebook: “One should not allow a rabid dog to go on rampage and to threaten your own peace without protecting yourself. “ (hvego31@gmail.com/PN)
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