Mabilog dismissal ‘absurd, unfair’ —lawyer

The camp of Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog will seek for a temporary restraining order on the Office of the Ombudsman's decision to dismiss him from his post over alleged unexplained wealth.

"The decision is absurd. We will fight this to the end. This is a very unfair decision based on a mere opinion that defies financial logic," Mabilog's counsel, lawyer Joemar Pueblo, said in Joseph Morong's report on 24 Oras on Friday.

Vice Mayor Jose Espinosa, who will take over the city, refused to comment on the issue. "No comment ako diyan," he said. "I don't know anything about it.

Manuel Mejorada, the former Iloilo provincial administrator who filed the complaint that lead to Mabilog's dismissal, welcomed the Ombudsman's decision.

Mabilog was ordered dismissed after the Ombudsman, in a 13-page decision, found him guilty of serious dishonesty for failing to explain the P8.9 million increase in his personal wealth from 2012 to 2013.

His Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth from 2013 showed a P8.9 million increase from his 2012 records, or a jump from P68.3 million to P59.4 million.

Because his salary and other forms of income did not account for the sudden increase, and his failure to present a proof of income from the business interests listed on his SALN, the Ombudsman ruled that Mabilog had malicious intent to hide the source of his sudden wealth.

Mabilog was one of the local officials President Rodrigo Duterte has linked to illegal drugs. 

Mabilog left the country on August 30 for an official trip to Japan and Malaysia, and filed a sick leave to seek medical treatment abroad in September, which he extended to October. His current whereabouts is unknown. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News