Alleged drug lord Kerwin Espinosa said former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief and now Sen. Ronald dela Rosa forced him to bear false witness against former senator Leila de Lima. His testimony resulted in De lima being incarcerated on drug charges for six years.
Also a former Justice secretary during the administration of the late president Benigno Aquino III, De lima was eventually cleared of all charges.
Besides De Lima, Espinosa said Dela Rosa also coerced him to implicate businessman Peter Lim.
Espinosa gave his testimony to the House quad committee investigating the drug war of former president Rodrigo Duterte, where he served as a resource person.
He said Dela Rosa had forced him to point to De Lima and Lim as being heavily involved in the illegal drug trade on November 17, 2016. At that time, Espinosa had just returned from Abu Dhabi where he had gone into hiding as he was also facing drug-related charges in the country.
Espinosa publicly apologized for his role in De Lima’s six-year detention. For his part, Dela Rosa vehemently denied Espinosa’s claim, even threatening to punch him in the face if they ever met face-to-face.
Dela Rosa was the chief implementor of the Duterte drug war. Varying accounts say anywhere from 5,000 to 30,000 mostly young Filipino men were killed during Duterte’s drug war.
Espinosa said that upon his arrival from the United Arab Emirates, it was then General Dela Rosa himself who picked him up at the airport in a white, bullet-proof Land Cruiser. The police chief then said Espinosa should pin down De Lima and Lim to make sure there was a strong case against them.
Dela Rosa was seated in the front of the vehicle while Espinosa was flanked by two policemen at the back.
If he did not agree, Dela Rosa supposedly told Espinosa that he could meet a similar fate as his father, the slain Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa, who had been killed inside his jail cell.
The older Espinosa supposedly “fought back” against a raiding team that had gone to his cell. The younger Espinosa said that if he did not agree to De la Rosa’s plan, other members of his family would be liquidated.
In the Senate, Dela Rosa told reporters he would “punch him (Espinosa) in the face for the lies he told the House committee.”
The senator said he would “never” face the House committee to give his side of the story.
What Dela Rosa did admit was that he visited Espinosa in his detention cell at the Criminal Investigation and Detention Group to ask him why he had accused former Albuera police chief Jovie Espenido of accepting drug money.
During the House hearings, other details of the Duterte drug war also came to light.
The Duterte administration reportedly set up a system of rewards and compensation for police to receive every time they successfully concluded a drug operation.
Aside from Dela Rosa, now Sen. Bong Go was likewise involved in the program.
Go also denied being part of such a plan. A former personal assistant of Duterte, Go said all he did before becoming senator was to set up appointments for Duterte.
