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[av_heading heading=’ Jed’s wife to Duterte: ‘You’ve been fooled’ ‘ 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 GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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Friday, December 1, 2017
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ILOILO City – “Please visit our house.”
In her Facebook page, the wife of former mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, Maria Victoria, invited President Rodrigo Duterte to drop by the couple’s house in Molo district should he visit this city.
“(S)o that you will have a first-hand knowledge of what our house truly is like, and then you can hold accountable whoever made you a fool when you were made to believe that it is grander than Malacañang,” Maria Victoria posted on Facebook.
The city government now led by Mayor Jose Espinosa III invited the President to grace the 50th anniversary of Dinagyang Festival in January next year.
According to Maria Victoria, Duterte’s visit to the Mabilog house would give him good vibes.
“It was built with love as our foundation and you can feel the joy and happiness that are on its walls. I promise you, it’s gonna be a Zen-like experience for you. Say a little prayer when you approach the altar, too,” she posted on Facebook.
The post was an apparent reaction to a Panay News report yesterday titled, “Duterte not finished with Mabilog yet.”
In a speech in Pangasinan on Wednesday, Duterte said, “I told you Mabilog was a drug dealer. I told him ‘you will be next’ so he went out of the country. He was dismissed. Hindi na bumalik.”
Maria Victoria lamented, “This is exactly the reason why until now, we opt to stay away. Our safety is always at risk as long as the President believes in his own lies about Jed.”
The Mabilogs left the country in Aug. 31, a day after the President disclosed ordering a lifestyle check on the then city mayor. They have not disclosed their whereabouts although Maria Victoria is known to be a Canadian citizen.
In an Aug. 30 speech in Davao City while describing Malacañang Palace, Duterte said, “Mas gwapo pa ang balay ni Mayor Mabilog…Palasyo. Droga man na. Asa man siya’g kwarta? Ang iyang negosyo? (Mayor Mabilog’s house is more grandiose, a palace. It was because of drugs. Where else would he get the money from? His business)?”
The “drug dealer” charge of the President is a new one. He previously accused Mabilog of being a drug protector.
“Why would you be afraid (to come back if you are really innocent),” asked Duterte in Pangasinan.
Mabilog, one of the mayors the President linked to the illegal drug trade, failed to explain how his net worth increased by P8.9 million in one year from 2012 to 2013, according to the Ombudsman.
“May the eternal light of truth, peace and be upon you, Mr. President. Enjoy Dinagyang and the peaceful and clean city of Iloilo! Jed and the good people (of Iloilo) made it so,” wrote Maria Victoria on Facebook.
Reacting to the lifestyle check order just minutes after Duterte disclosed it in Aug. 30, Mabilog issued a statement. “I can assure the President not a single centavo of dirty money was spent for this home,” he stressed.
“I have nothing to hide. My house, while often described as a palace, is not quite a palace. The land or compound on which our circa 1800s ancestral home stands was inherited and the house was built on a more or less 200-square meter portion. It is not as big as pictures would make it appear,” according to Mabilog.
There were claims Mabilog spent P50 million for his residence. According to his wife, however, it cost “a little less than P8 million.”
“Modesty aside, I and my wife were already running a number of businesses before I joined politics. I was already living a comfortable life in Manila as an entrepreneur when I came home to run for city councilor. I didn’t become rich because of politics, much unlike many politicians,” said Mabilog.
Mabilog served as city councilor from 2004 to 2007 and vice mayor from 2007 to 2010. He was elected mayor in 2010 and reelected in 2013 and 2016.
October last year, Mabilog opened his house to the local media in an effort to dispel insinuations of corruption or drug money used. The Department of Interior and Local Government’s Task Force Agila was then investigating him and other local government officials that Duterte linked to illegal drugs. Before the task force was able to complete its investigation, however, it was dissolved following the firing of then Interior secretary Ismael Sueno in April this year./PN
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