FORMER Iloilo City mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog was appointed as undersecretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Malacañang disclosed on Wednesday.
“Confirmed,” Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said in a text message to reporters when pressed about the appointment.
The Palace has yet to issue additional details of Mabilog’s appointment.
Mabilog was one of the local chief executives included in then-president Rodrigo Duterte’s 2017 list of “drug protectors.” He fled the country and sought asylum in the United States.
The Office of the Ombudsman dismissed Mabilog on Oct. 23, 2017, for violating Section 3(h) of Republic Act (RA) 3019, as implemented by the DILG.
Section 3(h) of RA 3019 prohibits public officers from having a financial interest in a business, contract or transaction in which they participate in their official capacity.
The penalties imposed included dismissal from service, accessory penalties and a bar to reemployment.
He returned to the Philippines in September 2024 and surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation. It was in the same month that the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency confirmed he was not included in the narco-drug list under the Duterte administration.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. granted him executive clemency in January 2025.
Mabilog took his oath of office before Executive Secretary Ralph Recto and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Wednesday, May 13.
The former mayor replaced Serafin Barretto Jr., who had held the position since 2022, under then-Local Government secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr.
Mabilog will oversee DILG agencies tasked with emergency response and public safety functions — including the Bureau of Fire Protection, and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology — to promote public safety, ensure secure infrastructure and support local government units’ capabilities during emergencies.
Duterte repeatedly singled out Mabilog as a key protector of drug lords during public speeches, as indicated in the former president’s drug watch list. He even branded Iloilo the “most shabulized” (methamphetamine-ravaged) city in the country, tying Mabilog to syndicates like the Odicta group.
Marcos cited Mabilog’s “long-standing commitment to good governance” and Iloilo City’s awards under his mayoral term from 2010 to 2017. WITH A REPORT FROM RJAY ZURIAGA CASTOR
