Iloilo mayor sacked as charges pile up
The Ombudsman ordered the dismissal of Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog as charges against him kept piling up before the anti-graft office.
The dismissal order was confirmed a day after President Rodrigo Duterte warned the mayor that he was his “next target.” The Ombudsman said Mabilog was found guilty of serious dishonesty after he failed to properly explain his sources of income in his 2013 Statement of Assets Liabilities and Networth (SALN).
The document showed that the mayor’s assets increased by almost P9 million to P68.3 million in 2013 from P59.36 million in 2012. The increase was “grossly disproportionate to his legitimate income as a public official and businessman,” the decision dated August 29, 2017 read.
Last month, the Ombudsman also said it has found probable cause to charge Mabilog with graft for the towing deal entered into with 3L Towing Services in 2015.
Mabilog and city councilor Plaridel Nava II were charged with violation of Section 3(h) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act No. 3019).
Mabilog is on sick leave until the end of October.
He left the country on August 31 to fulfill various commitments and after Duterte repeatedly warned him against pursuing his alleged drug-related activities.
The mayor’s wife and children have also left the country.
Duterte had claimed that Mabilog was running scared because he might “suffer the same fate” as slain Ozamiz City mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, who was killed in a police anti- drug operation.
Duterte had described the mayor as the “number one” coddler of drug syndicates in the country and Iloilo City as the “most shabulized” area.
Mabilog and his family have denied any wrongdoing.