Kerwin Espinosa now under NBI custody
SELF-CONFESSED Eastern Visayas drug trader Kerwin Espinosa was transferred to the National Bureau of Immigration (NBI) detention facility in Manila.
Espinosa was wearing a bullet proof vest and guarded by heavily armed policemen of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Anti-illegal Drugs Group (AIDG) during his transfer.
In a text message on Thursday, Justice Undersecretary Erickson Balmes said Espinosa arrived at the NBI at 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
The transfer was conducted 8 days after a lower court in Baybay Leyte released an order directing the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (PNP-AIDG) to transfer Espinosa's custody to the NBI.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II in his previous interviews said Epinosa had earlier expressed his desire to be admitted in the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Witness Protection Program (WPP).
According the Secretary, the DOJ will have to evaluate first the affidavit to be executed by Espinosa to determine if he is qualified to be placed under the WPP.
Espinosa had been under the custody of AIDG since his arrest in Abu Dhabi last October 17.
Espinosa said he is more complacent being under the PNP custody despite what happened to his father, the late Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa, who was killed by police officers inside his detention cell at the Leyte sub-provincial jail.
“Hindi naman talaga nawawala sa puso ko, sa isip ko na pwedeng mangyari sa akin ang nangyari sa Papa ko. But sa AIDG malaki ang tiwala ko sa kanila dahil pagdating ko pa lang ang seguridad ko nakita ko na talagang safe talaga ako hindi katulad nung mga CIDG (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group ) na gumawa sa Papa ko,” he said.
(Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo and Keith Calayag/ Sunnex)