TRAGIC ENDING
Eighteen-year-old Chesney Espinosa, youngest daughter of slain Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr., weeps before the covered body of her father, begging for a hug, as funeral parlor workers carry him out of the Baybay Sub-Provincial Jail. (Photo by Robert Dejon)
The man who thought that he would be safe inside a detention cell met his violent end as members of a police unit barged in at dawn and shot him to death while jail authorities were kept at bay.
The killing of Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr., inside a facility that should have kept him safe, sent shock waves across a range of sectors, including the Leyte provincial government that runs the prison and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) which exercises control and supervision over the Philippine National Police (PNP).
DILG Secretary Ismael Sueno ordered PNP Chief, Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa to immediately conduct a probe and “gather substantial evidence” behind the alleged shootout that led to Espinosa’s death.
“We want to know if CIDG Region 8 followed standard operating procedures in undertaking this operation and in serving the search warrant to Espinosa and (Raul) Yap,” he said.
Malacañang on Saturday reserved its reaction on Espinosa’s death pending an ongoing investigation.
“Right now, it’s really under investigation so wala po tayong actual na komentaryo patungkol diyan (so we cannot give an actual comment on that),” Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in an interview with state-run DZRB radio.
The raid
Espinosa was killed by police operatives in a raid inside his cell at the sub-provincial jail of Baybay City, Leyte early Saturday morning. Also killed was Raul Yap, an alleged drug pusher who had been detained since July 28, 2014.
Armed with a search warrant issued by Judge Tarcelo Sabarre of Regional Trial Court Branch 30, a team from Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Eastern Visayas (CIDG-8) led by Chief Insp. Leo Larraga barged into the jail at about 3 a.m. on Saturday.
Members of the CIDG-8 claimed that Espinosa, 54, put up a fight when they served the search warrant and found shabu inside the mayor’s cell.
But relatives of Espinosa demanded justice and claimed that the mayor may have been silenced by those whom he had implicated in the illegal operation ran by his son, Kerwin, said to be the biggest drug
lord in Eastern Visayas.
“We believe that my brother was intentionally killed. The claim that he tried to engage the police in a shootout was unbelievable,” said the mayor’s brother, Ramon.
He said they could not believe what happened to the mayor because the latter had always told his family that he was safe inside the jail since policemen were guarding him. Chief Supt. Elmer Beltejar, police director for Eastern Visayas, was surprised by the CIDG-8 operation, saying it was done without coordinating with his office.
“I was shocked when I heard the news (that Espinosa was killed in a shootout),” he told the Inquirer.
He immediately ordered an investigation by the Regional Internal Affairs Service to determine if proper procedure was followed during the operation.
A jail guard, who asked not be named, said one of the 15 CIDG-8 personnel pointed a gun at him while ordering him to open the gate.
He was then told to squat down and face the wall while the four other jail guards were hurled in another corner while the rest of the CIDG team went inside the facility.
The operatives also told the four policemen from the Provincial Public Safety Company not to interfere because they were also policemen.
A few minutes later, bursts of gunfire rang out.
But the jail guards were not allowed to leave their spot to check by CIDG policemen guarding them.
They were only able to check the cells when the CIDG team left about 11:30 a.m., or eight hours after.
Another source said the CIDG team didn’t present a warrant when they barged in.
A source told the Inquirer that Espinosa was alone inside cell no. 1 when CIDG-8 policemen barged in. Another group of CIDG personnel went to cell no. 7 where Yap and six other inmates were detained. Only Yap was shot.
Shabu and firearms were allegedly found in the cell of Espinosa and Yap.
More questions raised
Over at the regional police headquarters, Chief Supt. Beltejar said he wanted to find out what happened to the hard drive of the jail’s closed-circuit camera which went missing.
Leyte Provincial administrator Edgardo Cordeño also said the CIDG-8 didn’t coordinate with Capitol which runs the facility in Barangay Hipusngo, a kilometer away from the city proper.
He also wondered how the CIDG managed to recover illegal drugs from the cell of Espinosa when they had just conducted a thorough search of each of the eight cells and did not find any shabu.
Incidentally, the CIDG-8 is headed by Supt. Marvin Marcos, whose aunt, Lalaine Jimenea, was among those implicated by Espinosa in his son’s operation.
Jimenea, publisher of a local paper in Ormoc, was among the seven persons charged at the Regional State Prosecutor’s office in Leyte for allegedly receiving payola from Kerwin.
She has denied the charges which stemmed from the affidavit executed by Espinosa in exchange for police protection.
Espinosa first surrendered to PNP Chief Ronald dela Rosa on Aug. 2 after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a shoot-on-sight order against him and his son.
He went back to Albuera on Aug. 15 and holed himself inside his office.
He later agreed to execute an affidavit, identifying those who protected his son’s operation, in exchange for his safety.
He identified 226 names including 19 politicians, four from the judiciary, 38 policemen, 7 from CIDG, one from Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, 3 from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, one
from the Army and three from the media.
Espinosa later stayed at the police station under the protection of Chief Insp. Jovie Espenido, Albuera police chief, because he feared for his life. He also called on his son to surrender and assured him of his safety.
Kerwin was eventually arrested in Abu Dhabi last Oct. 17 and was expected to be extradited to the Philippines.
On Oct. 5, the mayor was transferred to the Baybay subprovincial jail after the arrest warrants on charges of illegal drugs and firearms were issued against him.
In the meantime, Espenido had been filing charges against those named by Espinosa by batches.
Among them were Sen. Leila de Lima, Vice Mayor Jonah John Ungab of Ronda town in Cebu, businessmen Eufrocino “Winnie” Codilla Jr. and Victor Espina Jr., brother of former Philippine National Police officer-in-charge and retired Director General Leonardo Espina; and retired Bureau of Jail Management and Penology warden Joseph Nuñez.
The latest case Espenido filed was an administrative complaint against 10 police officials at the National Internal Affairs Service in Camp Crame last Oct. 26.
Two days later, an underling of Kerwin, Fernando Balagbis, was killed in a raid on his cell at the Baybay City jail.
Balagbis, who allegedly continued his illegal drugs trade while in detention, allegedly put up a fight.
Eight days later, the same fate befell on Mayor Espinosa.
Speaking to reporters at the ancestral homes of the Espinosas in Cebu City, Ramon said there was no reason for his brother to shoot it out with the police.
“He already submitted himself to authorities. Why should he engage police in a shootout inside the jail?” he said.
Ramon said Espinosa had a licensed firearm but it was not in his possession inside the provincial jail.
Ramon, the eldest of seven siblings, believed that some persons who were named as illegal drug protectors by Mayor Espinosa ordered his brother’s assassination.
He said it was possible that some officials were afraid that Mayor Espinosa might later on squeal on them.
Ramon stressed that his brother had no hand in the illegal operations of Kerwin.
“I hope Kerwin won’t suffer the same fate with his father. But we’re ready for anything,” he added.
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