Albuera Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr.’s sister-in-law Emma sits with a man at the Mactan Cebu International Airport. The man who hid his face turned out to be the mayor’s brother Ramon. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/GMA 7)
CEBU CITY–Is Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. of Albuera town, Leyte, in Cebu?
A source on Friday said the mayor planned to seek medical attention in Cebu and asked members of the media to go with him from the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) to foil possible assassination attempts.
At 1:08 p.m. on Saturday, a Philippine Airlines (PAL) plane landed at MCIA.
Based on the flight radar application of the airport, the mayor and a certain Mariel Espinosa were on board the flight from Manila.
But reporters waiting at the airport’s arrivial area didn’t see Mayor Espinosa.
Instead, his brother Ramon, the latter’s wife Emma, and two teenage kids emerged from the arrival area.
Ramon partly hid his face with a jacket but some members of the media were able to identify him.
He and his companions were escorted by members of the Aviation Security Unit-Central Visayas (AVEU-7) to a taxicab.
Supt. Ritchie Posadas, director of AVEU-7, confirmed that it was Mayor Espinosa who arrived at MCIA Saturday afternoon.
“This station provided security coverage during the arrival of Mayor Espinosa via PAL flight PR 1853 from Manila. No untoward incident was noted during the entire security coverage,” he said in a text message.
Policemen wearing a uniform of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) arrived at the MCIA after the Espinosas left the airport.
They searched the arrival area but didn’t find the mayor. When they learned that the Espinosas had left, they hurriedly boarded a standby vehicle and left the airport.
Reports that Ramon and Emma acted as a decoys for security purposes remained to be verified.
While they were about to board a taxi, Emma told reporters they were not afraid of getting killed.
“God is with us. Jesus is with us,” she said.
Emma, who resides in their ancestral houses in Barangay Hipodromo, Cebu City, earlier appealed to authorities to spare their family because they didn’t know the whereabouts of the mayor’s son, Rolando “Kerwin Espinosa Jr, alleged the biggest drug lord in Eastern Visayas.
Last August 2, Mayor Espinosa showed up at the Philippine National Police headquarters and surrendered to PNP Director General Ronald dela Rosa, beating a 24-hour deadline set by President Duterte for him and his 36-year-old son to surrender or shoot-on-sight orders would be issued against them.
The mayor denied protecting his son and tearfully pleaded for Kerwin, who is at large, to surrender.
Espinosa left the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday.
In its official statement, the PNP said Espinosa left the “White House,” the official residence of PNP chief Dela Rosa, “for a PAL flight going to Leyte.”
But a source said the mayor arrived in Cebu past 1 p.m. and immediately took a boat ride to Ormoc.