President Duterte regards the dismissal from service of Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog as “a late and pretentious gesture” to win the President’s favor.

In his speech in Davao City Friday night, Duterte referring to Mabilog said, “the Ombudsman, in a very, very late gesture, para kunwari na sinuportahan nila ako (so it would seem that they are supporting me), fired, stripped him of his mayorship.”

Then looking at himself, the President said: “Basta ako, trabaho ko, trabaho ko (Me, if it’s my job, then it’s my job). Period,” he added.

Earlier, Malacañang said that the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) would implement the dismissal order of Mabilog once it receives a copy of the Ombudsman’s order.

The Ombudsman ordered the dismissal from service of Mabilog after he was found guilty of serious dishonesty in relation to his “unlawful acquisition of wealth”.

The Ombudsman issued the verdict after Mabilog failed to explain his sources of income, which showed an increase in his net worth by over P8.9 million withinf one year.

President Duterte had earlier accused Mabilog of having ties to the drug trade in the city, tagging Iloilo as the “most shabulized” in the Visayas region.

Mabilog and his family left the country last August after the President’s repeated warning to him to sever his ties with drug personalities or risk his life.

But despite Mabilog’s repeated denial, Duterte insisted that his claims were valid true and that he desired to meet with the Mayor’s cousin, Senator Franklin Drilon, to explain Mabilog’s ties to the drug trade.

Tags: Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Jed Patrick Mabilog, Manila Bulletin, Ombudsman, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, SONA

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by Argyll Cyrus Geducos

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