DAVAO CITY—President Rodrigo Duterte has assumed full responsibility over the killing of Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa inside the Baybay City provincial jail.
Duterte, who just arrived from his visit to Malaysia, said that he tended to believe the statements of the police unless there is evidence gathered against them.
“Let me state my case as the Chief Executive of the Executive branch. I believe in the version of the police. If they have evidence to prove otherwise, then a case should be filed against the police. But as I have said before, right at the start, very early in my administration, I will protect and I will support the police in this drive against shabu,” he said.
He said that since it was his mandate to go against illegal pushers, he would be blamed for whatever the police commit in their campaign against illegal drugs.
“Just wait for their version. In the meantime, if you run out of people to blame, look at me because I was the one who ordered the war against drugs,” he added.
Duterte said he will never leave the police and will fully support them, but he will never tolerate those who are protecting drug lords or dealing illegal drugs.
He also assured the public that Espinosa’s son Kerwin will be bought into the country safely from the United Arab Emirates, where he is detained.
“I’m sure, I guarantee you, he will be brought back—he will be repatriated. I’m sure of that,” he said.
Philippine National Police [PNP] director Ronald dela Rosa said Kerwin would be adequately protected, and will be detained in Camp Crame to make sure that nothing happens to him.
“I’ll make sure that he will be alive. I’ll take care of it,” Dela Rosa said.
Espinosa was killed inside his cell along with inmate Raul Yap when a raiding team from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group 8 tried to serve a search warrant in his jail cell at 4 a.m. Nov. 5.
During his arrival speech, Duterte reiterated the problem of illegal drugs in the country.
“We have become a narco-politic[al] nation. Many of those [involved in illegal drugs] are barangay captains. [Almost all of them.]”
“It is my sworn duty to see to it that we do not slide just like the other countries of the world, particularly Latin America,” he added.
Members of the PNP-CIDG team testified on Thursday’s Senate investigation, they only acted in self-defense when they shot and killed Espinosa. They told senators, Espinosa had fired at them first—using a gun that he somehow managed to sneak into his prison cell.
But Senators Panfilo Lacson and Richard Gordon questioned the PNP-CIDG’s account and pointed out lapses in police procedure.
They also heard testimonies from the jail warden, jail guards, and other inmates who disputed the raiding team’s account.
The jail warden, jail guards, and inmates all said that Espinosa was unarmed and no shootout occurred.
Senator Lacson also pointed out that one of the PNP-CIDG operatives had called for a PNP-SOCO (Scene of the Crime Operatives) forensics team even before the raiding team entered the jail.
“It’s like you were calling for a funeral even before the encounter,” he told Supt. Santi Noel Matira, one of the CIDG team.
Lacson described the policemen’s actions as “pre-meditated.”
In a statement Friday, the leftist Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) disagreed with Duterte’s assessment of the raid on the Baybay provincial jail.
“We disagree with the assessment of the President with regards to the killing of Albuera Mayor Espinosa,” Bayan said.
The group said the presumption of regularity cannot be accorded to the CIDG operatives who carried out the operation, considering the questionable circumstances surrounding the operation.
Bayan added that the President should await the results of the investigation before issuing statements that may unwittingly influence the outcome of the probe. With Sandy Araneta and Vito Barcelo