Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog. NESTOR BURGOS/INQUIRER FILE
Malaca帽ang on Tuesday said President Rodrigo Duterte was willing to meet with Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, who the chief executive said was on his drug list.
Mabilog, in a radio DZMM interview on Tuesday, requested for a meeting with Duterte.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have word if any meeting has been set up. I am sure if he goes to the usual channels of appointment, and I鈥檓 sure the President will be willing to sit with him,鈥� Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a Palace briefing.
Mabilog said he has previously requested to meet the President but to no avail.
Mabilog was among the local politicians included on the drug list of Duterte for allegedly protecting drug lords. But the mayor has repeatedly denied this allegation.
In an ambush interview in Pampanga, Duterte reiterated Mabilog was on his 鈥渘arcolist.鈥�
READ: Stop protecting drug lords, Duterte warns Iloilo City mayor
鈥淲ell, I鈥檒l tell you again, Mayor. Dinadawit ka (You are being implicated). For the longest time, updated list, nandiyan ka (You are there),鈥� Duterte said.
鈥淒o not protect. Do not call the police ganito na ganito. Do not just mess up with the鈥� kasi 鈥榩agka nandiyan, drug lord ka rin e. Mapipilitan ako. Bakit ka nag-protekta?鈥� he added.
It was not the first time the President named the local executive as a drug protector.
Asked why Mabilog was being singled out by the President, Abella said, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there is any need to single out Mabilog in that sense, but it is simply part of the president overall campaign against illegal drugs.鈥�
Espenido reassignment
On Monday, Duterte announced the reassignment of Police Chief Insp. Jovie Espenido to Iloilo, the province earlier tagged by the President as the 鈥渂edrock鈥� of illegal drugs in the Visayas.
鈥淲e call on our people to unite with the state in our campaign against drugs thru both police action and drug prevention and rehab with full respect for law, for human rights, and the rule of law, which is the pledge of the President,鈥� Abella said.
The Palace official said Espenido was 鈥済oing to be part of the whole government approach which is something to do with prevention, rehabilitation and so it鈥檚 going to be a whole government approach.鈥�
鈥淗e is expected to work with the rest of the whole government,鈥� he said.
He said there was 鈥渘o specific spelled out reason鈥� why Espenido was being assigned to Iloilo.
But pressed whether Espenido鈥檚 reassignment to Iloilo was a sign that the province has serious drug problem, Abella said,聽鈥淚 suppose the best we can say at this stage is that it is sign that his work in Ozamiz is done.鈥�
READ: Espenido鈥檚 deployment to Iloilo stumps mayor
Espenido, who has been described by some as a scourge of alleged drug lords, led the raids on the houses of the Parojinog clan in July that led to the death of Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog and 14 others.
Espenido was also the police commander of Albuera, Leyte, when Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. was killed in an alleged shootout inside the subprovincial jail in Baybay City. IDL