The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Thursday, Sept. 19, confirmed that the name of former Iloilo City mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog was not on the original drug list.
“Initially, it (Mabilog’s name) was not [on] the list but later on, his name was included,” PDEA director general Moro Lazo said during the House of Representatives’ quad committee hearing.
Mabilog was among the alleged narco-politicians mentioned by then-president Rodrigo Duterte in his speech in August 2016.
No formal charges, however, were filed against Mabilog and other officials on the so-called “narco-list” of Duterte.
According to PDEA intelligence service director Emiterio Bitong, Mabilog was only included in their drug list in 2017 after Duterte mentioned him.
“It was only on October 19, 2017 when the names earlier mentioned by the President, there were 159 including the name of Mayor Mabilog, but the rest were already earlier included. So only 30 that were not yet included in the earlier list that were added,” he said.
Mabilog told the quad committee that he received valid information that in three lists, his name did not appear there.
“My name only appeared when it (list) came from Malacañang,” he said.
The former mayor believes that it was the former president who included his name.
“I cannot say on behalf of [Duterte], I can only assume that it could have been politics that has made [Duterte] put my name in that Malacañang-initiated list.”
Mabilog returned to the Philippines last Sept. 10 after from his seven-year self-exile in the United States. He left the country in 2017.IMT
