Mabilog willing to testify in ICC drug war probe

MANILA, Philippines — Former Iloilo mayor Jed Mabilog is willing to testify before the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.

Mabilog, who was accused by former president Rodrigo Duterte of being a protector of drug dealers, said he can testify in whatever venue against the drug war.

“Of course, I am very much willing to fly anywhere, The Hague or whatever venue in the Philippines, because all that I have to do is to tell the truth,” he said yesterday over radio dzBB.

Mabilog said he is ready to face any investigation or inquiry, expressing confidence that he was never involved in illegal drugs.

“I am 100 percent confident I have never been involved in illegal drugs, never been a drug protector and will never be. I am sure my name will undergo the process of adjudication (and) will finally be delisted,” he added.

Mabilog had been in exile in the United States since 2017, where he was granted political asylum. He returned to the country last week.

Speaking before the House of Representatives’ quad committee on Thursday, Mabilog said he did not return to the Philippines in 2017 due to a warning from a police general not to come home.

The former mayor said that he wanted to come forward and speak for himself, as well as for other mayors who were included in the controversial “narcolist” of the previous administration.

Despite being tagged, Mabilog said he is not facing a single charge on illegal drugs and he was not included in the validated list.

“In the spirit of fairness and justice, it is unfair. My name is not on the validated list, but for whatever reason in the previous administration, my name is included,” he added.

The supposed narcolist was just being used as a political tool against opponents by the administration, Mabilog claimed.

Not on initial narcolist

During the House quad comm hearing on Thursday, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) director general Moro Virgilio Lazo said Mabilog’s name was only later included in Duterte’s narcolist.

“Initially, it was not on the list. But later on, his name was included,” Lazo said, responding to Abang Lingkod party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano, who asked if Mabilog was part of the drug watchlist.

Lazo said there were 3,363 personalities on the narcolist – also known as the “PRRD Drug List” – in August 2016, but a second list of 6,119 names, which he claimed was obtained from the Office of the President, was merged with the first list in August 2017.

Lazo said that it was in October 2017 when Duterte mentioned 159 more names – which included Mabilog – that were added to the list.

Mabilog appealed to Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos to convene an adjudication committee to ensure that the real list will be validated.

He noted that those unfairly tagged should be delisted, so that drug enforcement could be implemented “in the right way.”

Asylum request

The Philippines, under the Duterte administration, was not consulted when the US granted political asylum to Mabilog, according to Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez.

Mabilog and his family were granted political asylum in the US on March 29, 2019 following an investigation by US authorities into the drug allegations against him.

Romualdez was ambassador to the US when Mabilog went into exile. “They have granted him asylum,” Romualdez said in a message to The STAR.

Romualdez was appointed ambassador to the US in July 2017 by Duterte, and was reappointed in July 2022 by President Marcos.

When asked whether the Philippine government or the Philippine embassy in Washington was consulted, Romualdez replied: “No. We were not consulted.”

The US embassy in Manila did not comment on whether the Philippines was consulted on Mabilog’s request for asylum and referred inquiries to the US Department of Homeland Security which handles asylum cases.

Coming home

Mabilog said it was not his plan to flee the country in 2017, when he left Iloilo for a conference in Japan where he was a speaker on disaster management.

He recounted the calls made by a police general and colonel, whom he did not name, warning him that his life was in danger.

Along with his and his family’s decision to leave the country was a promise that he would return one day.

That day happened on Sept. 10.

Since then, Mabilog said he has had sleepless nights, coupled with a roller-coaster ride of nervousness and anxiety.

He admitted that he came back to the Philippines against the wishes of his wife, but Mabilog said, “My feet are stronger than my fear. My faith is stronger than my fear. I have my voice. I want to be heard. I want to tell my story.”

Bato: No basis

Sen. Ronald dela Rosa denied Mabilog’s allegation linking former senators Franklin Drilon and Mar Roxas to illegal drugs in the country.

In his testimony at the House quad comm, Mabilog claimed a general warned him not to return to the country as he would be implicated in illegal drugs.

Dela Rosa, however, insisted that Mabilog’s allegation was impossible, and challenged him to name the general who warned him to be able to verify his statement.

The senator was the first chief of the Philippine National Police of former president Duterte and was considered the architect of the war on drugs.

“Did president Duterte do anything like that, nothing? That is impossible to happen. How can you link with Sen. Drilon and Mar Roxas? What is your basis if you want to implicate them? There was nothing like that,” Dela Rosa said in a phone patch with Senate reporters.

“He (Mabilog) should name the general so we can ask him what was his basis. Where did he get that information? He should name him,” he added.

Dela Rosa claimed that “Mabilog was actually included in the drug list during Duterte’s term. Mabilog was often linked to drug lord Melvin Odicta.”

The senator said his personal impression of Mabilog was that he seemed decent and not irrational. So when the former mayor called expressing concern for his safety, the senator was willing to help.

However, Mabilog later changed his mind.

Dela Rosa further clarified that even though Mabilog was on the drug list, there was no instruction from Duterte to have him arrested, only monitored. He also said that intelligence units verified information on people on the drug list and it was not just made up.

He also said he did not have any information that Drilon and Roxas were involved in illegal drugs.

“I never have any information and I have no basis to link him and then it’s not my habit to link them. Why do I implicate people? There is nothing like that, I have no such intention. I have not heard of any such report. So, it is better for Mabilog to say the name of the general who said that so we can know if what he said is true,” Dela Rosa said. — Pia Lee-Brago, Jennifer Rendon, Emmanuel Tupas, Cecille Suerte Felipe