SEN. Ronald de la Rosa on Friday said former Iloilo City mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog lied before the House quad committee when he testified that dela Rosa invited him to Camp Crame in 2017 so he could kill him there.
De la Rosa, then the chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) during the Duterte administration, described Mabilog's testimony as an incredible lie.
“That's very incredible, telling him to go to Crame so I could kill him there,” the senator said in Filipino and English.
“Before Mayor Jed Mabilog disappeared, he called me and said he worried for his safety. I told him: As far as I know, you are an excellent mayor helping the PNP's anti-drug efforts. If you're scared, come here to me at the Crame, and I can assure you nothing will happen to you. I will convince the president that you are a good person,” de la Rosa said.
De la Rosa said that initially, Mabilog agreed to see him at Camp Crame but changed his mind later.
“He said: Yes, sir, I will go there. Later on, he called me again, saying that he wouldn't come to see me anymore because someone advised him. I'm unsure if he told me he would fly to Japan or if I just received that info later,” de la Rosa added.
During the House quad committee probe into extrajudicial killings, illegal drugs and Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), Mabilog claimed that the controversial narco-list of former president Rodrigo Duterte was used as a weapon to target his political rivals.
Mabilog, whose name appeared on Duterte's narco-list, said it had turned into a “hit list” driven by political motives rather than evidence.
Mabilog, who returned to the country after seven years of self-imposed exile in the United States, denied any involvement in illegal drugs.
He said he actively pursued anti-drug campaigns during his tenure as mayor, noting that under his leadership, Iloilo City became the first city in the Philippines to activate 100 percent of its barangay anti-drug abuse councils in 2014.
The Duterte administration ignored all these efforts, however, and put him on the narco-list.
Mabilog recalled how threats against him escalated, eventually forcing him and his family to flee the country.
Under oath, Mabilog narrated before the House quad committee an alleged plot to link former senators Mar Roxas and Franklin Drilon to illegal drugs during Rodrigo Duterte's presidency.
Be the first to comment