Iloilo mayor: My house is not a palace
"I have nothing to hide," Iloilo City Mayor Jed Mabilog said. Facebook/Jed Patrick E. Mabilog
MANILA, Philippines — Iloilo City Mayor Jed Mabilog refuted President Rodrigo Duterte's claim that his house is a palace after ordering a lifestyle check on the local official.
Duterte earlier said that he asked the National Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Internal Revenue to look into Mabilog, allegedly linked to drug lords.
READ: Duterte orders lifestyle check on Iloilo mayor
"I have nothing to hide," Mabilog said in a statement.
Mabilog stressed that he and his wife, Marivic, were already living a comfortable life in Manila when he came home to Iloilo City to run as councilor.
He added that he did not become rich because of politics as he used to be an entrepreneur in Manila while his wife worked in Canada for years.
"The land or compound on which our circa 1800's ancestral home stands was inherited and the house was built on a more or less 200 sq meter portion. It is not as big as pictures would make it appear," the Iloilo mayor said.
The house of Iloilo Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog along the Iloilo River Esplanade has been described by President Rodrigo Duterte as a palace. The STAR/File photo
Duterte had warned Mabilog to cut his supposed ties with drug syndicates after assigning Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido as police chief of Iloilo City.
Malacañang, however, clarified that the president is not singling out the Iloilo mayor.
Mabilog assured Duterte that drug money was not used in building his house.
"I just feel sad that what I had hoped to be a dream home has caused a nightmare experience for me and my family. But I can assure the President not a single centavo of dirty money was spent for this home," Mabilog said. — Patricia Lourdes Viray
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