Ex-mayor, city councilor face graft raps

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

The Ombudsman filed anti-graft charges against former Iloilo City mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog and City Councilor Plaridel Nava before the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division over a towing transaction.

The charges were revealed on Thursday, April 13.

A four-page information from the Office of the Ombudsman was filed against Mabilog and Nava last March 2, for violation of Section 3(h) of Republic Act No. 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act).

It was submitted for approval by Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer III Cynthia Maturan-Sibi on May 19, 2022, and approved for filing by Ombudsman Samuel Martires on December 21, 2022.

Section 3(h) of RA 3019 prohibits appointed and elected public officials from having direct or indirect financial or pecuniary interests in any business, contract, or transaction in connection with which he takes part in or intervenes in their official capacity, or where they may be prohibited by law.

The Information refers to several actions made by Mabilog and Nava in connection with a towing company named 3L Towing Services Inc., owned by an alleged dummy Leny Garcia, who was also listed as a witness in this case.

Mabilog allegedly contributed ₱500,000 to 3L’s initial capital and issued business and mayor’s permits to Garcia who did not have to lift a finger.

He was also said to have instructed Nava to draft the memorandum of agreement (MOA) eventually to be signed with 3L.

Nava, meanwhile, was accused of seeking out possible suppliers for wheel clamps from China, as well as preparing the towing company’s registration documents with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

The councilor was also implicated for introducing what would eventually become City Regulation Ordinance (CRO) No. 2015-049, which amended CRO No. 2014-191 (Towing Ordinance of Iloilo City).

The amendment allows a private person or entity owning or possessing Denver clamps to enter into an agreement with the Iloilo City Government, with a reward of 70 percent of collected fines.

Bail was recommended at ₱90,000.

Nava released a statement through his Facebook page on Thursday shortly after news broke out, expressing confidence in the dismissal of the case, but only against him.

He cited a motion to dismiss he filed as an answer to the Ombudsman’s filing, which he said remained pending with the anti-graft court.

“I am confident that this case will be dismissed insofar as I am concerned. Aside from the fact that there is lacking of evidence against me, my complainant [Mabilog] is currently nowhere to be found,” Nava said.

He also claimed that his inclusion in the complaint was a result of the ex-mayor’s counter-charge filings with the Ombudsman against him.

He pointed out that this stemmed from the original complaint filed by former Iloilo provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada, who was arrested in 2021 for libel convictions in a case filed by former senator Franklin Drilon.

“In support of the complaint of Mejorada against Mabilog, I executed an affidavit corroborating and confirming the allegations of Mejorada against Mabilog. Aggrieved by my action, Mayor Mabilog filed a [counter-charge] against me with the Office of the Ombudsman claiming that I own the private property,” he narrated.

Daily Guardian has also reached out to Mabilog, who has been living in Canada since 2017, but he has yet to respond as of this writing.