President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has seen it fit to pardon former Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, in connection with his administrative case in 2017.
For those who find his name familiar, he was the one of those implicated in the series of narco lists released by authorities during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
This editorial isn’t about his administrative case, though; it’s about his unreasonably getting tagged in illegal drugs. We say unreasonably because until now there was no clear evidence ever presented that linked him to drugs.
It is timely to bring up his issue in light of alleged abuses that happened during the previous administration that legislators are now trying to investigate. Those so-called narco lists that contained the names of people allegedly linked to drugs weren’t always accurate; there were names of people who were already dead, people who had no involvement in drugs whatsoever, and there were also names of people who were actually campaigning against drugs, including that of a judge.
In fact, we don’t have to look far for someone who was similarly accused of involvement in drugs before being exonerated. Cebu City former mayor Michael Rama was unjustly accused of this but eventually managed to clear his name.
But it was not the same for Mabilog who found that he had no choice but to stay away from the Philippines after the list containing his name was published, fearing for his life under the previous administration’s violent war against drugs.
We are sure there were others who were in the same place as Mabilog and Rama, who were somehow included in a drug list for no apparent reason or substantial evidence but didn’t have the good fortune to be able to clear their name. There are others who may still be carrying the stigma of being included in a narco list.
What recourse do they have? What do they need to do to restore their name and reputation? Or has it all been just forgotten with the coming of a new administration?