KERWIN ESPINOSA: ALL WERE LIES

Espinosa recanted the statements he made against De Lima during the series of Senate hearings in 2016

SELF-CONFESSED drug lord Rolan “Kerwin” Espinosa admitted that the allegations he made against opposition Senator Leila de Lima, which implicated her in the illegal drugs trade resulting in her detention, were made-up stories he was forced to “invent” due to the pressure from policemen.

In a four-page counter-affidavit subscribed before the Department of Justice (DOJ), Espinosa recanted the statements he made against De Lima during the series of Senate hearings in 2016, particularly on her links to the illegal drugs trade inside the National Bilibid Prison (NBP) and in accepting millions worth of drug money from him to fund her senatorial race during her stint as the secretary of justice.

Espinosa said he was “coerced, pressured, intimidated and seriously threatened by the police,” giving him no option but to invent stories and cooperate “or else he and some members of his family will suffer the same fate as his father.”

Espinosa’s father, former Albuera Leyte mayor Rolando, was killed after allegedly fighting it out against cops during a search operation inside his detention cell at the Baybay sub provincial jail in November 2016.

The older Espinosa was named by President Rodrigo Duterte as among the country’s narco politicians in the earlier part of his drug war.

Rolando surrendered and implicated his son in the drug operations.

Espinosa was one of the government’s witnesses against De Lima, who has been detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) custodial center in Camp Crame over drug charges since 2017.

“Finally, any and all of his statements given during the Senate hearings, or in the form of sworn written affidavits, against Senator Leila De Lima are not true. He has no dealings with Senator De Lima and has not given her any money at any given time,” the document read.

“Any statement he made against the senator are false and was the result only of pressure, coercion, intimidation, and serious threats to his life and family members from the police who instructed him to implicate the senator into the illegal drug trade. For this, undersigned apologizes to Senator De Lima,” it added.

De Lima was among the lawmakers who launched an inquiry against the administration’s bloody crackdown against illegal drugs.

One of the three charges against her was already dismissed by the Muntinlupa court.

Espinosa was initially placed under witness protection program but it was cancelled following his alleged escape try from the custodial facility of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

The affidavit was in response to the drug charges filed by the NBI-Task Force Against Illegal Drugs on the basis of his extra-judicial confession related to his involvement in the illegal drug trade during the Senate hearings on November 23 and December 5 and 14, 2016, saying it was not voluntarily executed and that it was not explained properly by the counsel of choice.

“He was also misled by the police into signing the same due to verbal promise of dismissal of cases filed against him which promise turned out to false,” the affidavit stated.

“Undersigned is no longer a witness for the prosecution. He was already removed from the Witness Protection Program and they cannot use his alleged confession before the Senate, or any written documents, to prove his guilt and those of other persons he may have implicated,” it added.

Espinosa is facing about six to seven drug-related and money laundering charges.

In a television interview, Espinosa’s legal counsel Raymund Palad said Espinosa’s reversal was triggered by his removal from the Witness Protection Program (WPP), his transfer from the NBI facility to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Bicutan, and the continuous filing of charges against him despite their earlier promise.

“Kahit naman considered siya as a state witness under WPP, kahit minsan hindi siya ginamit as a state witness kapalit nung pagdischarge ng kaso sa kanya. Kasi sa setting natin when you’re under WPP, you will be utilized as a state witness and later on when court is satisfied na matibay ang statement mo, then the cases against you will be dropped. Hindi nangyari yon kahit isang beses,” he said.

Palad said following his client’s move, the government has resorted to using 27 other drug and crime personalities who were charged on the basis of Espinosa’s Senate confession to further pin down De Lima.

Meanwhile, Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento said Espinosa’s retraction will have no direct effect on De Lima’s drug charges since he was not considered a witness in the case.