Mayor says Iloilo City drug-free amid Parojinog raid scare

The mayor of Iloilo City has insisted that his city is drug-free a year after President Rodrigo Duterte linked him to illegal drug operations in the Visayas, GMA News' Susan Enriquez reported on 24 Oras on Thursday.

"We are confident because nakita naman ang siyudad ng Iloilo, I think nakita naman ng national leaders, at nakarating naman sa Presidente kung ano 'yung ginagawa natin dito sa Iloilo," said Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog.

The report however added that despite his pronouncement, Mabilog could not help but worry following the killing of Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr. during Sunday's police operation in his family's compound.

Like Mabilog, Duterte has linked Parojinog to illegal drug operations. He was the third mayor linked to illegal drugs that was killed under the Duterte administration after Rolando Espinosa of Albuera, Leyte, and Samsudin Dimaukom of Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao.

Shortly after he was linked to illegal drugs, Mabilog met with Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa, who scolded him for allegedly allowing the drug operations of Melvin Odicta to prosper in Iloilo.

Odicta and his wife were shot dead last year in Aklan. 

Meanwhile, the report quoted Maasin, Iloilo Mayor Mariano Malones, another politician linked to drugs by Duterte, as saying that he has nothing to fear as he has already been "cleared" of drug links.

Former Cebu City mayor Michael Rama, meanwhile, approached the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Region 7 on Thursday to clear his name, the report also said. —Margaret Claire Layug/KBK, GMA News