Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa had corroborated allegations
that former Justice Secretary and now Senator Leila De Lima benefited
from the illegal drug activities of his son Kerwin in Eastern Visayas.
In
a six-page affidavit taken by Albuera policemen in August, Espinosa
said Kerwin had told him that De Lima was one of the government and law
enforcement officials protecting his narcotics business.
The media
gained access to the affidavit after Espinosa was killed in an alleged
shootout inside a Leyte jail in the wee hours of Saturday morning.
"Aside
from the fact that my son Kerwin told me about it, I personally
witnessed my son and (then Justice) Secretary De Lima met and talked
regarding Kerwin's illegal drug trade in Baguio City sometime in March
2016," Espinosa said.
Also present during the meeting is Kerwin's common law wife, Hazel Mago.
Espinosa
said he was in possession of a photo of the meeting between De Lima and
Kerwin, which took place in the middle of the 2016 election campaign.
A photo showing De Lima and Kerwin together surfaced in the media months back.
De Lima, in response, said she did not know Kerwin and the photo was not enough evidence to pin her down.
She said many people wanted to have their pictures taken with her especially during the campaign period.
Told
on Monday of Espinosa's affidavit, De Lima said in a text message:
"Another invention from their factory of lies. #InventPaMore."
Describing
his son a "big time" drug lord, Espinosa said Kerwin got his drug
supplies from a certain Lovely, who in turn, sourced the contraband from
Peter Co, a high profile inmate in the New Bilibid Prison, and certain
Peter Lim.
The late mayor said Kerwin introduced Lovely sometime in November 2015 at the Zellan Hotel Reef and Spa in Albuera town.
Espinosa admitted he had never met Co and Lim although he recalled
their family driver and bodyguard, Marcelo Adorco, telling him that
Kerwin was with Lim in Thailand in November 2014.
"My son, who was
in jail at that time, informed me the reason why he was introduced by
'Lovely' to 'Peter Co' was because 'Lovely' could not pay already her
outstanding balance of P10 million to Peter Co," the affidavit read.
"[To]
set off Lovely's debt to Peter Co, Kerwin will take over the illegal
drug trade in Eastern Visayas as Peter Co's trader," it added.
Espinosa
said Kerwin "often" told him the drugs supplied by Lim are being
transported through an airplane from Hong Kong or Thailand to the Ninoy
Aquino International Airport in Manila.
Kerwin, meanwhile, was getting his supply from Co through the inmate's "trustee."
"From
Manila, the drugs are brought by the personnel of either Peter Lim or
Peter Co to a place in Bulacan and said items are then
exchanged/switched along the 'Skyway' of the said place between the
'biyahedor' and a personnel of either Peter Co or Peter Lim on board a
private vehicle," Espinosa said.
From Bulacan, the "biyahedor" brings the drugs to the residence of Kerwin in Makati City and later on to Ormoc City.
"More
or less 30 to 50 kilos a month are brought to Ormoc City and these 30
to 50 kilos are then distributed throughout Eastern Visayas," he said.
Espinosa,
who died in an alleged shootout inside his his cell in the Baybay City
Sub-Provincial Jail on Saturday, surrendered to Philippine National
Police chief Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa in August after his name was
included in a list of government officials allegedly involved in illegal
drugs.
He eventually left police custody and returned to work,
but was arrested on October 5 over charges for illegal possession of
dangerous drug and firearms.
Kerwin, the mayor's co-accused, was
arrested in Abu Dhabi last month and is in the process of being deported
back to the Philippines.
