ILOILO CITY -- President Rodrigo Duterte launched once again his verbal attacks on Jed Patrick Mabilog, the former mayor of Iloilo City who is currently in exile.
“Iyong mga mayor diyan na nasa droga, lalo na si Mabilog, mga galit sa akin yan. Naglayas (Those mayors who are in the illegal drug trade including Mabilog, they are angry at me. They left,)” said Duterte in an interview with Pastor Apollo Quiboloy.
“Marami ng daldal na hindi na ako presidente. Hali ka, umuwi ka dito, (There are lots of talks that I am no longer president. Come back here,)” added Duterte in the taped interview shared on Quiboloy’s SMNI News social media page on Saturday, May 7.
Duterte had repeatedly attacked Mabilog in public speeches since August 2016 when the former mayor’s name was included in the alleged list of narco-politicians.
Duterte accused Mabilog of protecting the alleged drug syndicate of Melvin Odicta, the alleged drug lord who was killed in 2017.
At that time, Duterte had also stated that Iloilo City was the most ‘shabulized’ in reference to the alleged ‘shabu’ proliferation in the city.
Duterte also repeatedly threatened to kill the former mayor in speeches.
Mabilog has not returned to the country since he left in August 2017. At that time, he was attending two international conferences in Japan and Malaysia.
Mabilog was scheduled to return, but did not do so when Duterte mounted verbal attacks.
In October 2017, Mabilog was dismissed administratively by the Office of the Ombudsman for alleged unexplained wealth. But the Court of Appeals (CA) reversed the decision in a 2021 ruling.