Former Iloilo City councilor Plaridel Nava has questioned the legality of the executive clemency granted by Malacañang to former mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog before the Supreme Court (SC).
On Wednesday, Feb. 26, Nava filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition to nullify the executive clemency signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin by the authority of the President Bongbong Marcos.
In his 13-page petition, Nava claimed that the clemency was unconstitutional and void ab initio or invalid from the outset.
The pardon, according to Nava, encroached on the independent mandate of the Office of the Ombudsman.
He noted that the Ombudsman is a constitutionally independent, quasi-judicial body beyond presidential supervision or control.
Nava said the Ombudsman’s Oct. 2017 ruling, which dismissed Mabilog from service and imposed a perpetual disqualification from holding public office, cannot be overturned as it is not appealable to the Office of the President.
The former city official also accused Bersamin of committing grave abuse of discretion due to an alleged “lack or excess of jurisdiction” in granting the clemency.
Mabilog’s clemency, granted last January, includes “reprieve, absolute pardon, conditional pardon with or without parole conditions, and commutation of sentence.”
“Given former Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog’s longstanding commitment to good governance, coupled with awards and recognition received by Iloilo City under his leadership, the President granted Mabilog’s petition for executive clemency in connection with his administrative case, thereby removing the penalties or disabilities resulting from such case,” Bersamin said in a statement.IMT
