Peter Lim skips DOJ drug probe
Cebu-based businessman Peter Lim again failed to appear in the reinvestigation of the Department of Justice (DOJ) of drug charges against him and confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa by the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Lim was summoned to appear in a hearing yesterday to submit another counter-affidavit on the charges of selling, administration, dispensation, trading, delivery and transportation of illegal drugs against him but failed to do so.
His lawyers led by Magilyn Loha told the investigating DOJ panel that Lim could not attend the hearing “due to threats to his life.”
Loha cited that just last March 24 Lim’s brother, Wellington, got ambushed but survived.
The DOJ panel chaired by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera then gave Lim more time to submit his answer and allowed him to instead appear in the next hearing set for May 30.
Only Espinosa, who is under custody of the witness protection program of government due to his testimony in the drug cases against detained Sen. Leila de Lima, was able to appear and file his counter-affidavit before the panel.
In the reinvestigation, the PNP submitted new pieces of evidence – including a new affidavit of witness Marcelo Adorco further detailing the alleged meeting between Lim and Espinosa in Thailand in 2015 where they allegedly closed a drug trade deal.
Through the assistance of the Office of the Solicitor General, the PNP also submitted records from the Bureau of Immigration to support Adorco’s claim.
The PNP likewise presented to the panel of prosecutors the transcripts of the 2016 Senate hearings on the investigation of the killing of Espinosa’s father Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. where he confessed his role in the illegal drug trade as well as the House of Representatives committee on dangerous drugs report over the inquiry on the drug activities of Lim and his brother Wellington.
Lastly, they submitted a certified true copy of the “blue book” of a certain Bebeth Rebecca Diano that allegedly listed those who are under Espinosa’s payola.
The DOJ started the reinvestigation following the dismissal of the charges by another panel of prosecutors, which triggered massive criticisms and earned the ire of President Duterte.