Iloilo City is host to an impressive classical architectural wonders and homes are huge, many are like palaces. Even modern Iloilo houses today are huge and spanking--perhaps reminiscent of Iloilo's glorious past which created the first billionaire's row in the Philippines where rows of stunning and sprawling mansions were built at the turn of the century ( and still stand today). Today that tradition for having huge mansions and houses is, well, normal.
A six to eight bedroom house is not unusual in Iloilo. Why the issue about the three bedroom house of Mayor Jed Mabilog is dragged into this drug issue, for Ilonggos it seems odd. Perhaps because when we look at the Mayor's house, in Iloilo it is, sorry for the word, normal.
The Mayor's house is most likely priced at Php 8 million and it is modest in Iloilo. I am a designer of residences, interiors and resorts, too, so I know costings. Sitting on their own family heritage lot ( meaning inherited land from their family) at 200 sq. m. ( again just normal), the house would cost about 30-40 k per sq meter even less ( excluding the furnishings which is just average). It has no swimming pool or other luxuries like centralized aircon. Of course the area is prime, and the value of the house can go up rapidly. Normal.
Making it spacious, the little almost studio type kitchen is open plan and connects to the sala with modest furnishings---average in metropolitan Iloilo or any city or standard modest home in the USA.
Many Ilonggos are, modesty aside, very affluent with the most transparent businesses. Many are so, rather, extremely, wealthy by inheritance or by hard work.
I have seen much bigger houses in Iloilo in exclusive villages in Casa Real or Ledesco and in towns like Molo, Villa, Miagao , Tigbauan, Guimbal, Oton, Jaro , Cabatuan and Pavia owned by seafarers ( many extremely wealthy ship captains and pilots ), lucky professional OFWs and the old rich Ilonggos. Though, of course, the Mabilog house when photographed, due to its linear lay-out and all white advancing color, looks big, and inside, very open to be home-y for a small happy family. But by scale it is small comparable to the other houses in Iloilo.
Pres. Duterte claimed Mayor Mabilog lives in a palace. That is a bit sinister. When his people tells him something, it is almost wrong or half-truths because they do not check ( ocular, verify, validate). Just hearsays. Then they will take back what they were saying when they are wrong.
Any upper middle class family like the Mabilogs can always also dream for a house after working for so many years. Their family can afford it. They are affluent. Who does not want a nice modest house if you can afford it? Marivic, the wife of the Mayor, has worked for 30 years as VP for an engineering company in Canada and earning in dollars, thus, a Php 5 million salary per annum in North America is achieveable there. Plus her retirement fees. We say, the combined income of a married couple usually makes them richer.
In Iloilo apart from luxurious houses are high end luxury cars. Normal for Ilonggos to see them everyday in the streets. My mother once told me a story. She said, never be envious if someone drives a nicer car than you do, or someone has a bigger house than what you have. You will never know how hard that person worked for it, how much sacrifice a person went through or saved so much money to get what he wanted in life. And her punch line--- he may drive a nice fast flashy car, but his underwear have holes he can no longer afford to buy one!
But what people are saying, the house of the Mayor was from drugs. Implausible it may seems. If Mabilog was into drugs, then charge him. Just do not judge him through public announcements like "Mabuhay pa kaya siya?" Hey, whether he is a mayor or not, he has a family. You are hurting his family like any normal family should feel.
Will Ilonggos just accept the opinions of President Duterte just saying “Basta maniwala kayo sa kin, narco-politician yan or protector ng droga yan”? Iloilo as most shabulized and bedrock of drugs as if our city is bloodied with it yet Davao has personalities much more involved with the biggest php 6.4 billion drug loot. C'mon do not use Iloilo as a scape goat.
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