Iloilo Mayor Jed Mabilog Not Threatened By Jovie Espenido Transfer
Iloilo City
Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog is not at all threatened by the impending transfer of
Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido to Iloilo City as ordered by President Rodrigo
Duterte.
Mabilog
said that the proposed transfer of Espenido is a “welcome development” because
he will be able to see for himself the initiatives of the city and assess
whether or not these are enough.
“As we
welcome Chief Inspector Espenido, let us show him and let us show our dear
President that illegal drugs has no place in Iloilo City,” Mabilog said in his
message during the flag-raising ceremony on Tuesday, August 29.
He then
urged everyone’s cooperation as his office, the Philippine National Police
(PNP) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) cannot do the job of
addressing the problem on illegal drugs alone.
Mabilog
also emphasized that Iloilo City is different from Iloilo province but both
have efforts to address the problem.
Iloilo has
a government unit-led rehabilitation initiative called Crossroads, Mabilog
noted.
Of the
3,180 surrenderers in the city, 1,200 have already availed of the treatment and
rehabilitation.
Those who
have not yet submitted themselves to rehabilitation are being revisited under
“Oplan Reboot” of the PNP.
PNP and
PDEA also avail of support using the city’s peace and order funds.
Data from the Iloilo City Peace and Order and Public Safety (POPS) plan disclosed that each law enforcement agency was appropriated PHP8 million in 2017.
Data from the Iloilo City Peace and Order and Public Safety (POPS) plan disclosed that each law enforcement agency was appropriated PHP8 million in 2017.
The funds
were for the conduct of drug testing, community and school-based anti-drug
preventives, operations against high-value targets, procurement of surveillance
vehicles and motorcycles and drug clearing operations.
Since 2016,
Mabilog said that 376 positive operations were conducted by the said agencies.
In 2012,
the city government provided PDEA with a detention facility.
They were
also provided with vehicle for the transport of the K-9 and four motorcycles to
increase their response time.
“Wala kita
nagkulang (We are not remissed), according to my ability and my knowledge. I
publicly would like to say I am sorry, I apologize to the media, to the people
of Iloilo City if it is not enough. But then, I did exert everything,” Mabilog
said who turned emotional while delivering his message.
“One thing
I am quite sure of, with God as my witness, that I have never protected anyone,
especially in illegal drugs. Never. I will never do that. Probably this
challenge is a mission from our Lord. I am a Christian. We are all Christians.
Some of us here are brother Muslims. God is the beginning and is the end. He is
the Alpha and the Omega,” he added.
Mabilog
will call for a meeting with the Iloilo City Peace Anti-Drug Abuse Council
(ICADAC) this week.
The meeting
will tackle how the city government will further support PDEA, PNP and even the
Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on the rentals of K9 dogs to “lock down our city.”
In his
message he also emphasized that he is bent on finishing his term until 2019
because he has the mandate of the people.
“I will
stay because and foremost, I have never protected anyone against illegal drugs
even any form of criminality,” Mabilog stressed.
Iloilo Mayor Jed Mabilog Not Threatened By Jovie Espenido Transfer
Reviewed by Yen
on
August 30, 2017
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