ILOILO CITY – Former Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog here wants to return home and clear his name from
former President Rodrigo Duterte’s accusations that he was a major drug protector.
“Simple lang po ang gusto ko: Gusto ko lang po umuwi, gusto lang namin ng peace (What I want is simple: I want to come home and we want peace) said Mabilog in an interview on ANC Headstart on Monday, September 9.

MABILOG and Duterte (Tara Yap and Manila Bulletin file)
Iloilo City Rep. Julienne Baronda said in an August 16, 2024 congressional hearing on the Duterte drug war that she might be able to convince Mabilog to come home and shed light on what happened to him and the unfair “shabulized” tag on this city.
Duterte repeatedly made the claim until the last few days of his presidency in 2022 that Mabilog was protecting the drug syndicate of alleged drug lord Melvin Odicta who was killed in 2016.
“I was waiting for cases to be filed against me in terms of these drug-related cases. But until now, there’s none because they have nothing against me,” Mabilog told ANC Headstart.
Mabilog has been living in exile in Canada with his family since 2017 after Duterte verbally threatened to have him killed.
He said in the interview that he decided not to return to the Philippines after attending international conferences out of fear.
“We decided not to return until we could see that conditions were favorable and justice could be served, just like what is happening right now in Congress.”
While Mabilog did not face drug charges, he was initially dismissed from service by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2019 for unexplained wealth.
In several public speeches, Duterte accused Mabilog of amassing ill-gotten wealth by being a protector of a major drug syndicate.
The Ombudsman’s decision was reversed and junked by the Court of Appeals (CA) in a June 2021 decision.