PDEA confirms: Mabilog wasn’t on initial narcolist, name was just added

Former Iloilo City mayor Oscar Mabilog is greeted by his supporters outside St. Anne Parish in Molo District in Iloilo City shortly after arriving from the airport. They also sing a birthday song to Mabilog, who turns 59 today./ video courtesy of RMN Iloilo

MANILA, Philippines — Former Iloilo mayor Jed Mabilog was not on the initial list of police generals and government officials supposedly aiding the illegal drug trade, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said.

Instead, PDEA officials told the House of Representatives’ quad committee on Thursday that the former local chief executive’s name was only included in the list produced by then-President Rodrigo Duterte.

READ: Mabilog wife hits back at Duterte: Drug raps unproven 

During his turn to interpellate PDEA, Abang Lingkod party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano asked the agency’s officials to clarify if Mabilog was actually part of the so-called narcolist. In response, incumbent PDEA Director General Moro Virgilio Lazo confirmed that Mabilog’s name was just included later on.

“Now, question on the Duterte’s list. Just to be clear: Is the Duterte’s list true? Were the information validated? Did it go through vetting? Let me ask DG Lazo, with regards to the case of Mayor Jed Mabilog. DG Lazo, do you confirm that indeed, in the PDEA list, as claimed by Mayor Jed Mabilog, his name was not on the PDEA list?” Paduano asked.

“Yes, Mr. Chairman… Initially, it was not on the list, but later on, his name was included,” Lazo replied.

Lazo then asked the quad committee if he could let PDEA’s Intelligence Service Director Emiterio Bitong explain the timeline of how Mabilog’s name found its way to the narcolist.

Bitong then said that there were only 3,363 personalities in the first list, and this number swelled to 6,191 after several lists were merged. However, it increased further to 6,221 because of the inclusion of other names, including Mabilog.

“It is officially called President’s Drug List, on paper, but then it became popularly known to be PRRD’s list. And only on… Let me just mention first that the second list that you mentioned, sir, was obtained again from the Office of the President, dated August 29, 2017,” Bitong explained.

“This was merged with the first list. And the number is 6,191. It was only on October 19, 2017, when the names mentioned earlier by the President were 159, including the name of Mayor Mabilog, but the rest were already included earlier. So only 30 that were not yet included in the earlier list, that were added,” he added.

READ: Ex-Iloilo mayor on Duterte’s drug list returns to PH 

Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop then asked PDEA if Mabilog’s name was not yet on the list when Duterte tagged the former mayor — which Bitong confirmed.

“When former president Duterte announced the name of Mayor Mabilog, he was not [on] the list??” Acop asked.

“None yet, sir,” Bitong said.

“So when it was announced, it was only then that Mayor Mabilog’s name was included?” Acop asked again.

“Yes, sir.  Long after, long after,” Bitong added.

Mabilog — who was present during the House hearing — denied being a protector of illegal drugs, claiming that it was only due to politics that he was tagged as such.

During the same hearing, Mabilog claimed a Philippine National Police (PNP) general told him that he would be forced to link a former senator and a former presidential candidate to the illegal drug trade if he surrendered to police officials at Camp Crame.

Mabilog recounted what transpired when he left the Philippines for Japan in 2017, due to fears for his life. Upon arrival in Japan, Mabilog said that he was advised by police Brig. Gen. Bernardo Diaz to call a cellphone number, which turned out to be former PNP chief and now Senator Ronald dela Rosa. According to Mabilog, dela Rosa sympathized with him and said he believed the former mayor was not involved in the drug trade.

However, moments later, another police official — which he did not name — called him and said that he should not return to the Philippines because he would be forced to link personalities to the drug trade.

Mabilog initially refused to name the two personalities, but upon further questioning by Paduano, the former mayor admitted it was former presidential candidate Mar Roxas, and Mabilog’s cousin, former Senate president Franklin Drilon.

READ: Mabilog bares ‘plan’ to force him to tag Roxas, Drilon as ‘drug lords’ 

Roxas and Drilon happen to be two of the most important stalwarts of the Liberal Party, the political group opposing the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Paduano said it appears politics is the mere motive for Mabilog’s inclusion in Duterte’s narcolist.

“So Mr. Chairman, the reason why I am asking this is because from the very start of the statement, the affidavit of Jed Mabilog and his preliminary remarks, it is all about politics.  That’s why the Duterte’s list again, from the statement of Col. (Jovie) Espenido it appears that it has not gone through vetting and validation,” he noted.

Despite being linked by Duterte to the illegal drug trade, no cases were filed against Mabilog about this issue.  Due to fears for his life, Mabilog left the country in August 2017 to attend a conference in Japan, but he and his family never returned.  But last September 10, Mabilog returned to the Philippines, in an attempt to clear his name.