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BY PRINCE GOLEZ
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Friday, October 27, 2017
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MANILA – Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog of Iloilo City has been ordered dismissed from the service by the Office of the Ombudsman for “serious dishonesty relative to his unlawful acquisition of wealth.”
He was also perpetually disqualified from holding public office.
The Ombudsman made public yesterday its ruling on the complaint against Mabilog for dishonesty and grave misconduct a day after President Rodrigo Duterte issued a vague warning to the mayor that he was “next.”
According to the Ombudsman, Mabilog failed to “properly account or explain his sources of income”, specifically the P8.9-million increase in the mayor’s wealth within one year from 2012 to 2013.
The Ombudsman directed the Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government to implement the dismissal order “immediately upon receipt thereof.”
Mabilog is currently on an extended sick leave abroad, citing his diabetes. None from his camp would say where he is exactly although it is public knowledge that his wife is a Canadian citizen.
The mayor’s wealth, as stated in his 2013 Statement of Assets Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN), was P68,341,622.40 – higher by P8,983,082.52 from his 2012 SALN of P59,358,539.89.
The complaint against Mabilog was filed by journalist and former Iloilo provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada in 2015. He claimed the increase in the mayor’s wealth was “grossly disproportionate to his legitimate income as a public official and businessman.”
FAILURE TO EXPLAIN
Despite opportunities given Mabilog to rebut Mejorada’s assertion, the Ombudsman said the mayor “still failed to sufficiently explain/answer how he was able to acquire properties, the amount of which were manifestly out of proportion to his salaries and other lawful incomes, thus there is prima facie evidence of unexplained wealth.”
Mabilog was also slapped with accessory penalties. These were the following:
- cancellation of civil service eligibility
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forfeiture of retirement benefits
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prohibition from taking civil service examinations
Mabilog argued before the Ombudsman that his family was already financially well-off prior to his joining public office, that he was a successful businessman, and that his wife Maria Victoria worked for over 20 years as comptroller of a Canada-based company.
To further justify the increase in his net worth thru acquisitions of new real property and investments, Mabilog cited his several businesses and submitted his wife’s Income Tax and Benefits Returns (from 2007 to 2009) and Tax Reassessments (from 2010 to 2012).
But the Ombudsman was not convinced. It said Mabilog did not present “proof material to the period covered” (2012 to 2013), specifically his wife’s 2013 lawful source of income and proof of income from the mayor’s business interests disclosed in his SALNs.
BAD FAITH
“The confluence of the foregoing circumstances leads to the inevitable conclusion that respondent, in not sufficiently presenting valid proof of his or his wife’s lawful incomes to justify his acquisition of wealth…within a span of one year, is indeed guilty of acts of dishonesty and is motivated by bad faith,” read part of the Ombudsman’s decision.
This “failure to properly account or explain his sources of income establishes the presence of malicious intent to conceal the truth, causing grave prejudice to the government,” added the Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman’s ruling, dated Aug. 29, 2017, was penned by Rachel Cariaga-Favila, graft investigation and prosecution officer III, and approved on Oct. 6, 2017 by Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang.
The camp of Mabilog said the mayor will appeal the Ombudsman decision. It has 15 days to do so.
“The mayor will avail himself of legal remedies,” Mabilog’s spokesperson Atty. Mark Piad told Panay News.
Meanwhile, the Ombudsman dismissed the other complaints of Mejorada against Mabilog for grave misconduct relative to the appointment of executive assistant Patrick Allan Sy and the mayor’s Iloilo One Esplanade Reality business due to lack of sufficient evidence.
The charge of dishonesty relative to Mabilog’s loan in a bank in Canada was also dismissed for lack of merit.
MIXED EMOTIONS
Mejorada welcomed the Ombudsman decision but said he had mixed emotions about it.
“I am happy because this decision is a vindication for me. The truth has finally demolished all the black propaganda thrown against me for several years now,” said Mejorada.
He described the ruling as “a triumph for justice.”
“No longer can anybody accuse me of falsehoods in the several graft cases I have filed against Mayor Mabilog,” said Mejorada.
The journalist, however, also said he was saddened “because the penalty imposed is the harshest under the law.”
“It didn’t have to end this way if only Mayor Mabilog listened to the criticism I and other members of media had leveled at him since he became mayor of Iloilo City,” said Mejorada.
Mabilog was far from perfect as a public official, he said, “but I recognize that he also has the welfare of his constituents in mind, and he is loved by many. He has done a lot of service to the city despite his shortcomings.”
Still, Mejorada said, “the law may be harsh, but it is the law.”
“Even good intentions cannot deflect the truth once public officials violate the law,” he stressed.
On Wednesday at the commemorative session and concert program of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Law Association in Malacañang, President Duterte issued another stern warning to Mabilog: “You’re next.”
It was unclear what the President meant.
August last year, Duterte accused Mabilog of being an illegal drug protector, a charge that the mayor vehemently denied.
According to the President, he had repeatedly warned Mabilog to cut his ties with illegal drug personalities. Just this August, he made a big deal of Mabilog’s residence in Molo, Iloilo City, calling it a palace.
Mabilog, however, denied dirty money was used to build his house./PN
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