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BY PRINCE GOLEZ
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Thursday, August 31, 2017
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MANILA – The “public attacks” of President Rodrigo Duterte against Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog of Iloilo City “show a brazen disregard for the rule of law,” Sen. Leila de Lima said on Thursday.
De Lima dared the President to file charges against the mayor in court “if he (Duterte) is sure that Mabilog is guilty.”
“So far, not an iota of evidence has been shown to the public to prove that Mayor Mabilog is what Duterte says he is, a drug protector,” she said in a handwritten note, a copy of which was obtained by Panay News.
Duterte accused Mabilog of protecting illegal drugs. He also claimed the mayor was related to the slain suspected drug lord Melvin Odicta Sr.
On Monday, the country’s chief executive revealed that Mabilog was in his “updated” list of suspected narco-politicians.
Questioning the veracity of the “drug list,” de Lima said the document was “good only for a witch hunt but not as evidence before a court of law.”
She also urged Ilonggos to pray for the safety of Mabilog and his family now that Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido was assigned in Iloilo City.
Espenido previously headed the police forces in Albuera, Leyte and Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental, whose mayors – also linked to illegal drugs by Duterte – died at the hands of officers in operations.
“There cannot be swift nanlaban justice for Mabilog but constitutional due process for the presidential son,” de Lima said, referring to Duterte’s son Paolo, who was being linked to smuggling in Davao City. “There should be no double standards.”
De Lima also gave Mabilog credit for bringing development to Iloilo City.
“He has turned around and developed Iloilo City into one of the fastest-growing local economies in the country,” she said. “The vibrancy of its community is a testament to how Iloilo has been transformed into a progressive city under Mabilog’s leadership.”/PN
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