By Mariela Angella Oladive
Former Senator Leila De Lima has expressed her willingness to assist exiled former Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, who fled the country amid fears of assassination and allegations of involvement in the illegal drug trade.
In an interview with Daily Guardian, De Lima said that she is open to meeting with Mabilog.
“Of course [I will be willing to help him]. If he wants to talk to me, I can talk to him because he also has his own story to tell. I have my story to tell—I was also a victim of persecution and have experienced something similar… I am very much willing to sit down with him,” De Lima said on the sideline of a symposium at UP Visayas on August 28.
Mabilog, who has been in self-imposed exile since 2017, was accused of being a “drug protector” by former President Rodrigo Duterte.
In August 2016, Duterte labeled Iloilo City as the “most shabulized” and implicated several local officials, including Mabilog, in the illegal drug trade, a claim that Mabilog consistently denied.
(Shabulized is a play on the word shabu or crystal meth.)
Mabilog left the country in August the following year for an official trip and medical treatment and has remained abroad since then. In 2018, Duterte threatened to kill him if he returned.
The controversy surrounding Mabilog was recently revisited when Iloilo City congresswoman Julienne Baronda called for his vindication, believing that the current political climate and recent hearings provide an opportunity for him to be exonerated.
During a joint public hearing of the House Committees on Dangerous Drugs, Public Order and Safety, Human Rights, and Public Accounts, Baronda argued against the claim that Iloilo City was the “most shabulized,” and called for a reevaluation of Mabilog’s case.
Baronda pointed out that Duterte’s actions against Mabilog constituted a human rights violation.
She criticized the lack of solid evidence from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) or Philippine National Police (PNP) linking Mabilog to illegal drugs and requested records of drug trade statistics and lists of officials implicated in 2016 and 2017.
The agencies acknowledged Baronda’s request.
Meanwhile, Mayor Jerry Treñas admitted his inability to support Mabilog during the Duterte administration when he was serving as a congressman, while Baronda was the chief political officer of Senator JV Ejercito.
The mayor clarified that his lack of action was due to his limited access to top officials rather than fear.
Treñas suggested that Baronda’s close ties with the Duterte family gave her more influence to assist Mabilog, while his own difficult relationship with Duterte prevented him from providing support.
