Duterte says lifestyle check shows Jed Mabilog lives in 'palace'

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a lifestyle check on Iloilo City Mayor Jed Mabilog after receiving reports that the local chief executive protected drug lords.

"I ordered a lifestyle check. His house is like a palace. He is probably the child of someone very rich," Duterte said in a speech before newly-promoted police officers in Malacañang on Wednesday, August 30. (READ: Narcopolitician or 'best mayor'? Who is Iloilo City's Jed Mabilog?)

He said he directed the National Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Internal Revenue "to take a peek" into Mabilog's lifestyle.

Duterte said the Iloilo mayor wants to meet with him, but he did not say if he was inclined to grant the request.

The President had earlier announced he was assigning Police Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido to Iloilo, which the Chief Executive had described as the most "shabulized" province in the Philippines, referring to shabu.

After announcing Espenido's new assignment on August 28, Duterte told Mabilog to severe his supposed drug links, which the mayor denied.

Duterte had praised Espenido for leading police in areas with mayors suspected of protecting drug lords. Two of these mayors were killed in police operations – Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr and Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog. – Rappler.com