Ex-Iloilo mayor Jed Mabilog now DILG undersecretary, SILG Remulla says

Former Iloilo City mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog has been appointed undersecretary for public safety of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Wednesday.

Remulla told GMA News Online that Mabilog officially took his oath earlier in the day.

“Yes. He took his oath under me at 9:30 a.m. His experience in local government will be a valuable asset in the department,” Remulla said.

“Furthermore, the injustice he went through will fuel his desire to level the playing field in local governance. Not revenge but reform,” he added.

Malacañang, meanwhile, confirmed Mabilog’s designation as DILG official.

“Confirmed,” Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro told reporters when asked on the matter.

Mabilog served as mayor of Iloilo City before leaving the country during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Duterte had accused Mabilog of having links to illegal drugs, allegations that the former mayor repeatedly denied.

Mabilog went into self-exile abroad and returned to the Philippines in September 2024 after years overseas.

In January last year, Malacañang said that President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. granted clemency to Mabilog.

The executive clemency was in relation to the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman on October 23, 2017, dismissing Mabilog after finding him guilty of serious dishonesty for his failure to explain his alleged questionable wealth worth P8.9 million from 2012 to 2013. —AOL, GMA News