KERWIN Espinosa, the alleged big-time drug lord of Eastern Visayas, is back in the country from Abu Dhabi and now in custody of the Philippine National Police.
At a press conference in Camp Crame, Espinosa apologized to President Rodrigo Duterte for engaging in the illegal drug trade and asked for a chance to reform.
Espinosa also vowed to divulge all he knew about the illegal drug trade.
“This is my situation now that my father is gone,” he said in Filipino, referring to Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa, who was shot dead in his cell by a police raiding team at the Baybay City provincial jail. “All those involved in illegal drugs that I know will be exposed.”
Espinosa did not comment on whether he personally knew former Justice secretary and now Senator Leila de Lima, whom Duterte has tagged as a protector of drug lords.
Espinosa’s plane arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 amid tight security Friday afternoon.
PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa personally picked up Espinosa at the Naia and was also with him inside the vehicle going to Camp Crame.
Dela Rosa said that they consider Espinosa as the “missing piece” in the ongoing investigation into the illegal drug trade.
Espinosa, wearing a bullet-proof vest and handcuff, was presented before the media in a press conference in Camp Crame.
Dela Rosa said he may grant the request of Espinosa to attend the wake of his father.
Espinosa is temporarily detained at the PNP Custodial Center.
The Palace on Friday ordered the PNP to assure Espinosa’s safety.
Espinosa arrived Friday after he was arrested in Abu Dhabi.
Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno welcomed news of Espinosa’s return to the Philippines, and said he has ordered the PNP to give the possible state witness “maximum protection.”
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers on Friday urged Espinosa to make public the sources of his illegal drugs, including his coddlers and protectors.
Barbers, chairman of the House committee on dangerous drugs, also urged Espinosa to cooperate with the government and disclose the identity of people who facilitated his escape from Manila.
He said Espinosa’s disclosure on his illegal drug operations in the past is vital since this would unmask the “narco-politicians” and “narco-generals” who personally and financially benefitted from his illegal activities.
Also on Friday, the National Bureau of Investigation said it would join the manhunt for Ronnie Dayan, the former driver, bodyguard and lover of De Lima, when she was still Justice secretary.
NBI spokesman Ferdinand Lavin, also the deputy director for the Forensic Investigation Service, said Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II had revealed that Dayan was allegedly hiding somewhere in Northern Luzon and being coddled by politicians with links to drug syndicates.