Capiz gov subject of lifestyle check

ILOILO CITY—A Liberal Party stalwart and close ally of former Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II has been subjected to a lifestyle check, supposedly upon orders of Malacañang.

Capiz Gov. Antonio del Rosario said a team of National Bureau of Investigation agents from Manila went to his province last week to gather information about him.

Del Rosario said the agents took photographs of his house in Barangay Dayao in Roxas City and interviewed officials in the village.

The NBI team leader, he said, told him the investigation sprung from a complaint that reached Malacañang, linking him to alleged corruption, illegal drugs and gambling. Del Rosario denied these.

“They were courteous and respectful and I told them to investigate thoroughly and report their findings to the public,” Del Rosario told the Inquirer. “My life and record as a public official for 45 years is an open (book). Roxas is a small city and my record as vice mayor, mayor, congressman and governor will disprove this,” he said.

The NBI is also looking into the family-owned Espacio Verde resort, also in Dayao village, to verify information that the value of the resort reached P500 million. The governor belied this.

“The land is owned by our family since I was a child. We developed the property gradually,” he said.

The NBI is also investigating allegations of nepotism, according to the governor.

According to Del Rosario, two of his siblings are holding appointive and coterminus posts in the province supervising hospitals and the provincial gymnasium, while a daughter has been serving as provincial administrator.

“But all of us will resign if they can show that we have committed irregularities or corruption,” he said.

While he declined to say if he believed politics was behind the investigation, Del Rosario said: “But it is public knowledge that I am close to Mar and that I have always stood by him.”

Roxas, who lost to President Duterte in the 2016 elections, won by large margins in Western Visayas region, especially in Capiz, his home province.

The NBI in Western Visayas earlier confirmed it was subjecting to lifestyle checks several public officials in the region, among them Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, who was repeatedly accused by the President as a drug protector.

Mabilog, who has been on an extended medical leave, denied the President’s accusations. He left the country because of concerns about his safety.