Drug spread leads to suit
ILOILO CITY—A critic of Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog on Wednesday filed an administrative complaint against the mayor for alleged failure to curb the proliferation of illegal drugs in the city.
In a 20-page complaint filed at the Office of the President, through the Western Visayas office of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), former Iloilo provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada also accused Mabilog of protecting drug lords and keeping unexplained wealth.
Mabilog is among the government officials named by President Duterte as involved in illegal drugs.
Also on the President’s list are Mabilog’s former spokesperson and consultant, Jeffrey Celiz, and three former chiefs of the Iloilo City police.
The mayor has repeatedly denied the allegations and stepped up programs of the city government against the illegal drug trade and to help drug dependents.
Mabilog’s spokesperson, lawyer Mark Piad, said the mayor would respond to Mejorada’s allegations once told to do so by the DILG.
“We are confident that we can disprove his allegations in any investigative body,” Piad said.
Guilt by association
He said the anti-illegal drug programs and projects of the city government “speak for themselves.”
Mabilog has also launched a program providing community-based rehabilitation centers for mild and moderate cases of drug dependency.
In his complaint, Mejorada accused Mabilog of gross negligence and misconduct in office by “shamelessly” associating himself with and socializing with alleged drug lord Jesus “Jing-Jing” Espinosa Jr., a village councilor of Monica in Iloilo City.
Espinosa has been identified by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency as part of the drug syndicate of slain drug suspect Melvin Odicta.
An unidentified assailant gunned down Odicta and his wife Meriam on Aug. 29 after they disembarked from a ship at the Caticlan port in Malay town in Aklan.
Mejorada, in his complaint, claimed that Mabilog had visited the house of Odicta “unmindful of the wrong signal it sent to the public.”
Mabilog has denied association with Odicta. Speaking for the first time on Odicta’s killing, the mayor told members of the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council on Tuesday that Odicta’s death is “a good thing for our city because this will reduce the drug supply.”
MABILOG
Piad said Mabilog’s visit to Odicta’s house was part of the mayor’s visit to the village where Odicta lived.
Mejorada asked the Office of the President to conduct an administrative investigation and suspend Mabilog for 90 days.
Look who’s talking
In Guimaras, local officials have shelved a plan to declare Mabilog persona non grata for insinuating that residents of the island were involved in illegal drugs.
Vice Gov. John Edward Gando said he will withdraw the passing of a resolution rebuking Mabilog after the mayor issued a public apology and spoke to Guimaras officials over his remarks during a Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council meeting in Iloilo City last week.
Mabilog earned the ire of Guimaras officials and residents after he said they probably did not want to use a newly built ferry terminal in Iloilo City because they were avoiding security X-ray machines.
By posing rhetorical questions, Mabilog also insinuated that illegal drugs might be brought in from Guimaras.
His comments provoked criticisms from officials and residents, including netizens, many of whom told him to “look at the mirror first.”
