Callous honesty

To be honest, Chief Insp. Jovie Espenido’s reaction to Ronda town Vice Mayor Jonnah John Ungab’s murder wasn’t at all surprising given how he had filed cases against him at the Regional State Prosecutor’s Office for allegedly being a protector of drug lords like Rolando “Kerwin” Espinosa Jr.

“To be honest I am happy. I am no hypocrite. What happened to Ungab was the consequence of his actions. There’s always payback time,” Espenido said in Cebuano during an interview.

The Cebu Daily News Wednesday issue banner headline covering Espenido’s reaction to Ungab’s murder was “Morbid Elation” and Ungab’s family, friends and sympathizers as well as those with even a minute respect for human life could only agree and be stunned at the brutal honesty, yet callousness of a man, a police officer whose war on drugs had produced a dead mayor and the blessings of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Yet those who ardently support the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs could only agree and publicly cheer or silently clap at Espenido’s remarks as they say good riddance to yet another lawyer allegedly on the take in the illegal drug trade, never mind if there’s insufficient evidence to prove their contentions.

But we’ve encountered an eerily similar sentiment on Ungab’s death before, particularly in the murder of Barangay Ermita Captain Felicisimo Rupinta. But we are digressing.

Yet since Espenido made mention of payback, might as well question his belief on how he could say with certitude that Ungab was involved in the illegal drug trade in Central Visayas.

If it meant protection, then how did Ungab protect Kerwin and other suspected drug lords? By lawyering for them? Is lawyering for suspected drug traffickers and society’s other scumbags against the law?

It is worth noting that Espinosa’s previous lawyer, Rogelio Bato Jr, was shot dead by unidentified men in Leyte province. Was Bato also a protector of Kerwin and other drug lords?

Then again, mere suspicion of involvement in the illegal drug trade had landed Sen. Leila de Lima in jail and others more tagged without substantial evidence to back it up by the Department of Justice.

Espenido, for all his exploits and commitment to justice and the law and as an officer of the law, should at the least be circumspect when it came to responding to Ungab’s death. But he would not be denied his chance to speak out at whom he thought to be one of the crucial links to the pervasive drug trade in the Visayas.

Espenido’s statements also cast a long shadow of fear over those in the legal profession who may be called upon by those accused of drug links and other crimes to think twice about representing them lest they wind up dead like Ungab and Bato at least under Espenido’s watch.

Espenido’s remarks are also sharp, biting contradiction to efforts by the PNP to cleanse their hands and their role in the government’s anti-drug campaign which has now attracted the attention of both the International Court of Justice (ICC) who may want to look into Ungab’s case and the US intelligence community.