Ex-mayor Mabilog confident of justice under Marcos admin

ILOILO CITY – Former Iloilo City mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog is confident he and his family will attain justice under the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

Seven years after leaving the country and seeking asylum from the United States government, Mabilog returned to his hometown here on Friday for his 59th birthday.

He was overwhelmed by the warm welcome and later faced the media at his house in Barangay Tap-oc, Molo district.

He was joined by Iloilo Lone District Rep. Julienne Baronda, who helped him and his family even before her election.

"We observe under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos or BBM the balance and fair treatment for all. There is no abuse, as a matter of fact, he is welcomed all over in the international community," Mabilog said during the press conference.

He said even those in power are served with arrest warrants because the government applies the law equally, which he observed during Thursday's hearing of the House of Representatives quad committee on illegal drugs, illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators and the alleged extrajudicial killings during the Duterte administration's war on drugs.

Upon his arrival, Mabilog visited the Dominican Sisters, who provided him and his family refuge before they flew out of the country.

He attended Mass at St. Anne Parish and visited the tomb of his mother, who died while they were in exile, at Molo cemetery.

He also paid a courtesy visit on Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas, whom he considers his mentor in politics.

Mabilog said he never regretted serving Iloilo City.

"Why? I saw Iloilo City before I became a public servant. You know what happened in terms of the economic growth of the city when I assumed," he said.

He added that while he was facing the darkest days of his life while away, it was also his "most beautiful seven years of my life" because he was with his family the whole time.

"It cannot be paid. Next to God, family first," he said.

Baronda praised Mabilog for bravely recounting his "ordeal and traumatic experience he and his family went through after he was publicly demonized and vilified as a drug protector, and threatened with assassination by the former dispensation."

"I pray that this opportunity granted by the quad committee of the House of Representatives contributes to his healing and that of his family. With the facts presented proving his innocence, may Mayor Mabilog's testimony also disabuse the minds of those who succumbed to the lie that Iloilo City was then the most shabulized city," she said. (PNA)