Espenido: Bato’s order for Albuera drug war meant killing suspects

Lt. Col. Jovie Espenido and Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS

MANILA, Philippines — Police Col. Jovie Espenido, a central figure in the Duterte administration’s drug war, on Wednesday claimed that then-Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald Dela Rosa’s order to rid Albuera, Leyte of illegal drugs meant “killing” people linked to the trade.

During the hearing of the House of Representatives quad-committee, Espenido said Dela Rosa called him up at the start of then-President Rodrigo Duterte’s term in 2016 to ask for his help in the drug war.

Dela Rosa, now a senator, supposedly told Espenido that he would be chief of police of Albuera with the task to rid the town of illegal drugs.

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“Ang instruction lang ‘tulungan mo ako Jovie at saka si President Duterte about this war against illegal drugs, so dapat galingan mo ah, ikaw ang i-assign ko as chief of police ng Albuera, so dapat mawala na ‘yong mga drugs sa Albuera’,” Espenido recounted.

(The only instruction he said was ‘help me, Jovie, and President Duterte about this war against illegal drugs, so you should do well because I will assign you as chief of police of Albuera, so the drugs in Albuera should be gone.’)

READ: ‘Go there, you are free to kill everybody,’ Duterte orders Espenido

“So your honors, ‘yon ang natandaan ko (that is what I remember),” he added.

‘Killing people’

When Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua asked what “removing illegal drugs” meant, Espenido said it was “killing people.”

“Your Honor, Mr. Chair, isa lang ang general word na ibigay, lahat alam na namin ang isang meaning din. ‘Pag sabi na mawala, kasali na ‘yong mamatay, that is very, very obvious [for] us,” Espenido said.

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(Your Honor, Mr. Chair, there is only one general word given, and we know its meaning. When they say ‘remove’, that means killing people, that is very, very obvious for us.)

“‘Pag sinabi po sa inyo na mawala, ibig sabihin, mamatay, tao po?” Chua asked.

(When you say remove, that means killing people?)

“By all means your Honor, exactly,” Espenido said.

Albuera drug trade

Espenido was credited for the dismantling of the illegal drug trade in Albuera, supposedly operated by Kerwin Espinosa, son of slain Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr.

He was also behind the filing of illegal drug trafficking and illegal possession of firearms complaints against Kerwin and Rolando.

Espenido was assigned to Ozamis City in Misamis Occidental in Northern Mindanao in December 2016.

In July 2017, Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr. and 14 others were killed by police serving arrest warrants on drug charges against the mayor. Eleven others, including Parojinog’s daughter, Vice Mayor Nova Echaves, were arrested.

During a Senate inquiry in April 2019, Espenido maintained the legitimacy of police operations against the Parojinog clan.

According to the police official, they wanted to arrest the Parojinogs alive and “to show the people how they are being subjected to the grind of justice.”

House committee hearing

This is the third hearing of the House quad-committee, which was formed to check the correlation between illegal activities in Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) hubs, the illegal drug trade, and the rights violations in the drug war.

Last Thursday, the quad-committee heard testimonies from Leopoldo Tan, who claimed that it was Duterte who ordered the killing of three Chinese nationals inside the Davao Penal and Prison Farm in August 2016.

According to Tan, he and a certain Fernando Magdadaro were hired to kill Chu Kin Tung, Jackson Lee, and Peter Wang.

Tan claimed that the Bureau of Corrections official Supt. Gerardo Padilla talked to a “person” over the phone after the alleged kill order was carried out, and the person even congratulated the jail officer.

Tan identified the person who congratulated Padilla as Duterte.