Jed Patrick Mabilog, who went into self-imposed exile in the United States, set foot in Iloilo for the first time in seven years.
The former Iloilo City mayor arrived at the Iloilo International Airport around 5:12 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 20.
“Overwhelmed gid ako. Sa cloud nine ako kay finally after seven years, nakabalik kita diri [Iloilo] kon diin kita ginbata,” he said in a media interview.
“Salamat gid sa Ginoo kay gindala kita diri nga safe,” Mabilog added.
He thanked Iloilo City Lone Representative Representative Julienne “Jamjam” Baronda for helping him facilitate his return.
“Nagapasalamat gid ako kay Congresswoman Jam Baronda. Daku gid nga bulig ang ginhatag niya sa aton para matigayon ini tanan,” Mabilog said.
From the airport, Mabilog went to Santa Ana Parish Church in Molo district to attend mass. He also visited the grave of his mother who died in 2019.
In a Facebook post, Mabilog said: “Iloilo ari na ko. Pagpasalamat kag kalipay ko gid nga nakapauli na ko sa akon palangga nga banwa. Pagkatapos sang pito ka tuig, makalakat na ako liwat sa mga dalan sang Iloilo.”
A day before he returned to his hometown, Mabilog appeared at the House quad committee hearing on extrajudicial killings and illegal POGO activities during the Duterte administration.
In his opening message, the former mayor maintained that he was not a drug protector, saying that former president Rodrigo Duterte’s accusations against him were all “baseless” and “fabricated.”
“Una sa lahat, I declare that I was not, and never will be a drug protector. I don’t know personally nor did I benefit in any way from any illegal drug personality in Iloilo or anywhere else,” Mabilog said.
Mabilog and his family left the country in 2017 following Duterte’s public threat to have him killed for allegedly protecting drug lords.IMT
Photo by Ian Paul Cordero/IMT NEWS
