President Rodrigo Duterte said on Friday the order of the Office of the Ombudsman dismissing Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog was a "very late gesture."

In a speech in Davao City, Duterte said Mabilog is a relative of Senator Franklin Drilon.

"You see Mabilog. Mabilog is, I think a cousin of Drilon...the Ombudsman, in a very, very late gesture, so that they could pretend of supporting me, fired, stripped him of his mayorship," he said.

The Ombudsman has ordered Mabilog's dismissal from office due to his alleged unexplained wealth, which increased by nearly P9 million in a span of one year.

Duterte has tagged Mabilog as a drug protector in Iloilo. Mabilog denied the allegation. CelerinaMonte/DMS