After urging Iloilo City residents to formally request President Rodrigo Duterte attend the annual Dinagyang Festival, which will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in January 2018, Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino insisted the president has no ill will towards the city, despite referring to Iloilo province as the most “shabu-lized.”

“Mahal niya ang Iloilo (He loves Iloilo),” he said during a recent visit to the city.

Since assuming the presidency, Duterte has visited Region VI several times, but has not been to Iloilo since April 2016, which took place amid his campaign.

The president recently attended the MassKara Festival in Bacolod City for a second year in a row./WDJ