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[av_heading heading=’JUST ANOTHER DAY’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY LUIS BUENAFLOR JR.
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SO WHAT is Jed Mabilog’s legacy for the natives of “I Am Iloilo”?
Surely he cannot claim the “Northwing” and “Southwing” expansions of SM City Iloilo or the soon to rise Gaisano City Center along Diversion Road. It would be preposterous to borrow the favorite term of his portly relative, Sen. Franklin Drilon. These expansions are part of the overall business plans of these big retail companies and the result of very extensive market study and research.
Obviously it has nothing to do with the Lin-ay sang Iloilo.
And what about the Esplanade and its expansion that’s slowly killing the mangroves along the shrinking “Iloilo River”, the so-called bike lanes along Diversion Road that serious bikers shun away from as its uneven surface is potential for serious accidents or the overpriced and unfinished Iloilo Convention Center? It would be absurd for him to claim all these as these infrastructure projects are courtesy of Tito Frank’s “pork barrel.”
As well-known international landscape designer Edgardo Lopez Suelo once remarked, “those “Palmas” planted along the entire length of the Diversion Road are not only dying because of improper planting but are grossly overpriced at P70,000 when they can be had at P15,000.
Of course, we know that these are part of Jed Mabilog’s much ballyhooed “beautification program.”
Last October, Jed Mabilog was dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman; it found him guilty of serious dishonesty for alleged unexplained wealth.
He was not only booted out as mayor of “I Am Iloilo City” but banned for life to hold public office as well just as “I Am Iloilo City” was on its way to a new beginning under Mayor Jose Espinosa III and Vice Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon rising from the stigma of “the most shabu-lized” and “bedrock of illegal drugs” tag which unfortunately happened during Jed Mabilog’s watch.
We come across this story from the Dec. 22 issue of Panay News; here are excerpts from that story:
Demolition jobs fail to diminish Jed’s legacy
Notwithstanding the “demolition jobs” against her husband, Maria Victoria Mabilog said former Iloilo City mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog left a legacy of good governance to Ilonggos.
“(They) can never diminish Jed’s legacy,” Mrs. Mabilog posted on Facebook.
She was reacting to Tuesday’s 2017 Excellence in Local Governance Awards of the Department of the Interior and Local Government where Iloilo City was cited as “best performing” among other cities in Western Visayas.
Really, those awards are because of the dedication and hard work of professional civil servants working for their city and home. With or without Jed Mabilog “I Am Iloilo City” will still get those awards.
It is not only preposterous but selfish and self-serving for Marivic Mabilog to claim credit for her husband; these awards are the legacy of the hardworking and dedicated nameless civil servants of “I Am Iloilo City” and certainly not because of a politician like Jed Mabilog.
On the other hand, let’s give credit also to some of the things that can truly be attributed to former World Mayor No. 5 Jed Mabilog: let’s start with city hall.
A lot of people are saying it is overpriced and if indeed it is, they could have at least included provisions for parking. This is perhaps the only city hall in the modern era (where people use cars and not horses as a means of transport) that does not have a parking area for cars.
What they did was to close off the street in front of City Hall and convert it to a parking area, which of course is illegal.
Jed Mabilog has been mayor of “I Am Iloilo City” for almost three terms till the Ombudsman rudely interrupted him by booting him out of office for serious dishonesty. And every time it rains the streets of “I Am Iloilo City” are transformed into raging rivers till his unceremonious exit. There’s a post-apocalypse scenario every time rains fall.
Perhaps Mabilog’s greatest legacy for “I Am Iloilo City” is that he is the only mayor from the time Iloilo was given its charter as a city till it became a highly-urbanized city to be booted out of office by the Ombudsman for serious dishonesty and unexplained wealth, and also the only mayor “I Am Iloilo City” had that is banned for life to hold public office.
And that folks is Jed Mabilog’s legacy that they can never diminish. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com)/PN
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