President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday warned Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog whom he described as a “narcopolitian”, saying “you’re next.”
“The Mayor of Iloilo City, I identified him, this is broadcasted nationwide, I said, “Your’e next. You’re next,” Duterte said before lawyers during the commemorative session of the Association of Southeast Asean Nations Law Association (ALA) in Malacañang.
However, Duterte didn’t clarify on what he meant by saying “you’re next” but the president was seemingly pertaining to the killings of suspected narcopoliticians, Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr. and Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa who were killed in anti-drug operations.
The president has constantly named Mabilog as a drug protector, which Mabilog has repeatedly denied.
On Thursday, the Ombudsman has directed the dismissal from service of Mabilog after he was found guilty of grave untruthfulness about his “unlawful acquisition of wealth.”
The case is in relation to a complaint filed by Iloilo provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada against Mabilog.
Meanwhile. Duterte also said that didn’t hesitate to order the operation against Parojinog, saying the latter will “fight it out.”
“When I ordered that operation against Parojinog, the mayor of Ozamiz City, I didn’t have the second thoughts about, you know, what will happen. Because I knew that he was going to fight it out,” he said.
“Because there is no election. Was there really democracy in that city? For the longest time, there was no election. You ran after him, he will kill you. The policemen who disagreed with him were also killed,” Duterte added, referring to Parijonog.
Duterte even branded Parojinog as a “criminal”, saying he has killed policemen.
“So when the government killed him, we started to dig and we found the bones of the policemen still in their uniform. He was a criminal. And in one of the houses, his house was almost a palace and the wallpaper of his palace and every Filipino saw it on TV, the paperwall of his palace was 500 pesos bills currency of the Republic of the Philippines,” he added.
“But after the mayor of — Espinosa of Albuera, same thing. He shot his policemen in front of the people in the market because they would not obey him. And he has killed so many people,” he added.
The president has cautioned the mayors who kill policemen, saying he will not be “nice” to them.
“And you want me to be nice to you? You kill police officers and you act… I do not blame you. I called for them in this room in three batches. There are so many mayors and I said, “you know, you be careful. I said, “Do not do it because I will go after you and probably, if I have to kill you, I will kill you,” Duterte said.