[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]
[av_heading heading=’‘GO ON LEAVE’ Fearful friends urge Mabilog to take a break’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”][/av_heading]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
Monday, September 4, 2017
[/av_textblock]
[av_textblock size=’18’ font_color=” color=”]
ILOILO City – Well-meaning friends are urging Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog to take a leave of absence or vacation while the situation is “still very hot.”
They remain concerned of the mayor’s safety even if drug lord Richard Prevendido is already dead and Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido of Ozamiz City won’t be the police director of this city after all.
“Maybe he can have at least one month vacation anywhere in the world just to calm down the situation and to allow any investigating agency to do appropriate steps – without violating his rights – to clear up matters,” said Julienne Baronda, former city councilor and a close friend of the mayor.
A team from the National Bureau of Investigation checked Mabilog’s residence, popularly called the “White House”, along the Iloilo Esplanade Thursday last week.
“We cannot be sure that nothing untoward will happen to him. He has been singled out by the President as a protector of illegal drugs. The stigma is destroying his good name and reputation,” said a barangay captain and Mabilog ally who asked not to be identified.
President Rodrigo Duterte confirmed having ordered the Bureau of Internal Revenue, too, to conduct a lifestyle check to determine if the mayor has unexplained wealth which would warrant administrative and criminal proceedings.
“It is for his own good not being seen around at this time. It is dangerous for him to insist staying in the city,” according to a texter.
Mabilog has denied being a drug coddler, pusher or even user.
On Saturday, the Police Regional Office 6 also confirmed that the new police director of Iloilo City won’t be Chief Inspector Espenido who, as chief of police of Ozamiz City, led a raid that killed Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr., a drug suspect.
“While it is true that Mayor Mabilog is innocent until proven guilty beyond question of doubt, he has to save himself first and foremost. Otherwise, all the things he has done for the city will be for nothing,” an email sender wrote.
Taking a leave of absence and allowing investigators to gather needed facts about him is the best way to convince the President that Mabilog is not hiding anything, according to friends who asked not to be identified publicly.
“By then, he would have been vindicated and all that was said against him and all the black propaganda would have disappeared,” a business leader in Iloilo City told Panay News yesterday.
On Aug. 31, hundreds turned up at a prayer rally for Mabilog at Plaza Libertad. They defended the mayor from the President’s accusation of being a drug protector.
Despite the President’s accusation, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Region 6 said there is no evidence showing Mabilog is engaged in shabu distribution or illegal drug protection, thus it did not include the mayor in its list of drug personalities.
Mabilog was in Japan attending a conference when NBI men visited his “dream house.” He instructed his office staff to allow the investigators inside his compound to see for themselves and assess the property.
In a statement, the mayor said all his wealth and properties came from legal sources which he and his wife established a long time ago. He, however, appealed that due process of law be observed by all government investigators.
His latest Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth is P64,759,356.
Popular among the people, Mabilog is on his third and final term as mayor of Iloilo City. He is expected to run for congressman in the 2019 election./PN
[/av_textblock]
[/av_one_full]
