Who is Jed Mabilog?

Former Iloilo City mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog has been named as the new undersecretary for public safety of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Prior to his new post, Mabilog was designated last year as special adviser to then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Mabilog first made a mark in the local government when he served as Iloilo City’s vice mayor from 2007 to 2010. He later went up the ranks and was elected as the city’s mayor from 2010 to 2017, serving for three terms.

But his tenure as Iloilo City mayor was marred with controversies after former President Rodrigo Duterte included Mabilog in his drug watch list.

Mabilog has since maintained his innocence, saying he found his inclusion in the list "very unfortunate and disconcerting."

In 2017, the Office of the Ombudsman ordered Mabilog’s dismissal after finding him guilty of serious dishonesty for his failure to explain his alleged questionable wealth worth P8.9 million from 2012 to 2013.

The Ombudsman dismissed him for the second time in 2018 in connection with the alleged anomalous towing services deal.

Mabilog went into self-exile abroad and returned to the Philippines in September 2024 to surrender to the National Bureau of Investigation over the graft charges filed against him.

But in 2025, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. granted Mabilog an executive clemency in view of the former Iloilo City mayor’s long-standing commitment to good governance, coupled with awards and recognition received by Iloilo City under his leadership.

Mabilog then said that the clemency granted to him “serves not just as a vindication for the wrongful and deceitful cases filed against me but as the triumph of justice in this country.”

With Mabilog’s comeback to government service, DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla believes that “the injustice he went through will fuel his desire to level the playing field in local governance. Not revenge but reform.” —VAL, GMA News