Former senator Leila de Lima has already forgiven Kerwin Espinosa.
From the moment Espinosa pinned her to illegal drugs eight years ago, up to the present time when he gave additional information about the conspiracy against her, De Lima said her forgiveness has remained unchanged.
De Lima recalled telling Espinosa in 2016, “I forgive you. Because I know that your testimony now is under duress or under gunpoint.”
During the House of Representatives’ quad committee hearing on October 11, Espinosa, who once confessed to being an alleged drug lord, pointed to former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief-turned-Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa as the person who coerced him to testify against De Lima.
“It was only on Friday that he revealed that, although I had some information already, various information, that it was Senator Bato, the then-PNP chief Bato, who coerced them — not only Kerwin Espinosa, but also Ronnie Dayan, and [Police Lieutenant] Colonel Jovie Espenido, because these three were among those who testified before the Senate in 2016,” De Lima told Rappler in an interview.
“So, but now, we all heard him (Espinosa) last Friday pointing directly to Bato. So, I’m not really surprised,” she added. Before this, Dela Rosa had already been implicated in the drug war that killed as many as 30,000 people, based on the tally of human rights groups.
This likewise surfaced in the months-long probe of the House mega-panel looking into former president Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, along with extrajudicial killings in the country, and illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators.
Dela Rosa was quick to defend himself, even resorting to foul language to hit back at Espinosa.
“Tell him, if I see him, I will punch his face. He’s a mother fucker. He’s a jerk, he makes up stories. The way he speaks, he thinks he is sinless. He’s a jerk, why does he make up stories? When he was in our custody, he was so nice, but now, he’s telling lies. That jerk is really a demon. He’s really a jerk drug lord. He is crazy,” the senator said in Filipino.
Eight years ago, Espinosa was also a witness in a series of congressional hearings, but was on the other side of the fence. He was a key witness in the hearings that resulted in the detention of De Lima over drug charges filed during Duterte’s time. Espinosa earlier claimed he gave De Lima payout drug money through the then-senator’s bodyguard, Dayan.
Despite Espinosa’s alleged exposé, the Department of Justice (DOJ) did not use him as a witness in the three drug cases against De Lima. The former senator, who’s now seeking a return to politics, has been free since 2023 and has already been acquitted in all of her drug cases.
Coercion
Affidavit: In 2016, Espinosa was arrested in Abu Dhabi by virtue of the arrest warrant issued over illegal possession of firearms and explosives. On November 16, 2016, Dubai’s criminal investigation department escorted him to the Interpol in the airport, informing him that he would be deported back to the Philippines and turned over to the PNP.
It was around 11 pm when he arrived in the country, Espinosa said, adding that he was fetched by the police using a land cruiser. Among those who fetched him was Dela Rosa, who instructed him to pin Peter Lim and De Lima to the illegal drug trade.
“Even before that, they already forced me to admit that I am connected to illegal drugs. Dela Rosa told me all of these while I was heading to Crame,” Espinosa said.
Espinosa also said that he talked to the “drug war poster boy,” Police Lieutenant Colonel Jovie Espenido, who also told him to follow all orders and implicate the names given to him if he wanted to “save his life” and keep himself and his family away from harm.
Espinosa said he was told by Dela Rosa that the order was approved by higher-ups, meaning, Duterte knew about the operation. He added that Dela Rosa also told him to testify in the Senate and to follow their orders, or else he would be harmed.
What other information say: There’s a minor inconsistency in this part of Espinosa’s affidavit, because he said he arrived in the country at around 11 pm, but his plane actually landed at around 4 am.
Nevertheless, it was true that Dela Rosa was among the police officers who fetched him in the airport. The then-PNP chief led the police delegation that welcomed Espinosa back to the country. Dela Rosa himself also confirmed he spoke to a “very nervous” Espinosa after the alleged drug lord boarded the flight headed back to country, adding that he spoke to Espinosa to “calm him down.”
What’s new in Espinosa’s affidavit is his pointing to Dela Rosa as the one who forced him to pin De Lima.
As early as April 2022, Espinosa wrote a sworn affidavit saying that he was “coerced, pressured, intimidated, and seriously threatened” to make all his past statements against De Lima, but did not name the alleged mastermind behind the coercion. Espinosa, however, mentioned in his earlier affidavit the phrase “from the police.”
“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 alleged drug trade,” Espinosa’s 2022 affidavit read. “For this, undersigned apologizes to senator De Lima.”
Technically speaking, Espinosa’s 2022 retraction had no effect on De Lima’s cases as the former senator was freed by the Muntinlupa courts due to the weakness of the prosecution’s evidence. Espinosa’s testimony was also not used in the cases filed against De Lima.
Nevertheless, Espinosa’s recantation was followed by more retractions, including former corrections chief Rafael Ragos, the DOJ’s star witness in the cases against the former senator. Ragos retracted his allegations only days after Espinosa’s recantation. As of December 2023, there were at least 13 witnesses who recanted their testimonies in De Lima’s case.
Deadly operation, fear for life
Affidavit: Espinosa said that while he was in Malaysia, he learned that his father’s name had been included in Duterte’s narco list. Espinosa said he was accused of being a drug lord, and that his father was also allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade and had been trying to protect him. Later, Espinosa said his father met with lawyer John Ungab, along with prosecutor Mary Ann Castro. They agreed to proceed to Camp Crame to ask Duterte’s and Dela Rosa’s help over the narco list.
For a time, Espinosa said his father stayed in Camp Crame’s “White House,” which was Dela Rosa’s residence inside the PNP headquarters. His father stayed there, fearful for his life because of his inclusion in the list, Espinosa said, but the older Espinosa immediately returned to Leyte after a few days.
After returning to Albuera, Espinosa said his father lived inside the police station. It was while his father was under police custody that cops raided their home in August 2016. The police claimed they seized drugs, firearms, and explosives. Espinosa disputed the allegations, saying that a group of women cleaned their house and testified that there were no drugs nor illegal firearms inside the Espinosa residence.
“In other words, the police only planted the drugs which they said they retrieved in my father’s house so that they can charge me and my father,” Espinosa said. “While my father was staying at the police station, we were always in constant communication through phone. He told me that whatever happens, I should not return to the Philippines because the police will kill me.”
After his father was transferred to the provincial jail in Baybay town, they filed a motion to transfer him to Albuera. While waiting for the motion, Espinosa said the police raided his father’s cell supposedly armed with a search warrant to look for guns and drugs inside the cell.
Espinosa said the police on duty were asked to “face the wall,” while operatives took the hard drive of the closed circuit television (CCTV). Later on, Espinosa said operatives went to his father’s cell and shot him, alleging that the mayor had fought back.
“But according to other detainees, my father begged for his life. However, the police still shot him along with Raul Yap, who hugged my father to protect him. That’s the testimony of some PDLs inside the provincial jail in Baybay, Leyte, and according to those who witnessed the incident,” Espinosa said in his latest affidavit.
What other information say: After his father’s murder in 2016, Espinosa said that he feared for his life. Aside from Espinosa, authorities also questioned the legitimacy of the operation that resulted in the killing of the Albuera, Leyte mayor.
The PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Eastern Visayas led the service of warrants against the older Espinosa and Yap, and decided to implement it at an ungodly hour. Police Colonel Marvin Marcos was the regional CIDG chief at the time.
Curiously, the police secured the warrant from Basey, Samar, and not Tacloban City or Baybay City which were nearer the jail. Also, cops do not need warrants to inspect cells of detainees or persons deprived of liberty. Jail and corrections officers can check detention facilities by themselves, as is the regular practice in jail and prison facilities. The police could have also just coordinated with jail officials for a random inspection of the cells.
After Espinosa’s killing, it was also reported that the CCTV footage of the encounter was missing. Jail warden Homobono Bardillon also said that jail guards stopped the police from entering the facility because they could not produce a search warrant, contrary to the police’s claim. The jail warden added that the former mayor was heard “begging for his life,” based on the information from the jail guards.
The legality of the CIDG operation that led to the older Espinosa’s demise was once again questioned during the quad committee probe. For hours, lawmakers asked Espinosa about his affidavit, while they grilled Marcos over the allegations thrown at him.
What’s next for De Lima, Espinosa
After her release, De Lima made it clear that she had already forgiven all her tormentors, except Duterte. She said she was also mulling the filing of criminal complaints against the former president and those who aided in her persecution.
Now, De Lima said, she is also planning to include Dela Rosa in the list of people she intends to sue, following Espinosa’s latest testimony. She added that her complaint against the senator might come sooner than her suits against Duterte.
“It’s already on record, his affidavit is already there, and then on quad comm. So it would be easier to file the complaint against Dela Rosa, compared to those complaints under process, which are undergoing case build-up for our complaints against [Vitaliano] Aguirre and Duterte,” De Lima told Rappler.
Just like Espinosa, De Lima was at the congressional hearings six years ago — but as an accused. Tables have been turned as De Lima’s persecution has now become the subject of the hearing, and she set foot on the Batasang Pambansa as a resource person on the drug war probe.
“Yes, the tables have started to turn now. Of course, I am glad that that’s now the stance of our Congress, especially the House of Representatives, despite the fact that as individual members of both the Senate and the House, they allowed themselves to be used as a weapon against me, to be used in the persecution, in my persecution. We were all witness to that, especially the House hearings and their misogynistic attacks against me,” De Lima said.
Obviously, the recent accusations against Duterte and his allies are politically motivated and were the fruit of the political fallout between Duterte and Marcos. For De Lima, the authenticity of the House hearings can only be measured if these probes bear concrete results.
“They really have to sustain ‘yung level of determination nila ngayon (their current level of determination). They have to really dig deeper. They have to really accept more possible witnesses, especially those who will spill the beans, like [retired police] colonel Royina Garma. And then, their recommendations at the end of the hearings.”
Meanwhile, Espinosa has faced a pile of cases related to money laundering and drugs. He, however, has already been acquitted in all of his drug-related cases and walked free from detention after he was allowed to post bail in December 2023. His only remaining case is one that involves 84 counts of money laundering.
The younger Espinosa is eyeing the mayoralty as a vehicle for his family’s return to political power. – Rappler.com
*Quotes were translated into English for brevity