The Espinosa network

Hours after it was reported that Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa was killed in a shootout inside his cell in the Baybay City sub-provincial jail, netizens raised a howl — how could a prisoner fight off 15 policemen in a shootout over one gun? The explanation offered by operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) 8 was so ludicrous that people tend to believe reports of sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFO) and aliens taking selfies with people strolling in Central Park in New York City.

Senator Panfilo Lacson’s take on the killing as “a clear case of extrajudicial killing” underscores his extensive experience in police work. He is an old hand in the civilian police agency, having served in different capacities from 1971 to 2000. Lacson practically rose from the ranks to become the top PNP honcho under the administration of then president Joseph Estrada.

His earlier stint with the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC) gave him plenty of insights into the illegal narcotics trade so that when he heard that CIDG-8 operatives practically marched into the provincial jail to kill Espinosa and later revised the scenario to make it a shootout, Lacson was able to read “a bad script” a mile away.

Sen. Lacson was in the middle of investigations related to the 1995 rubout case of 11 members of the Mindanao mafia known as Kuratong Baleleng. Lacson was then chief of PACC, a special unit created to curb syndicated criminal activities. The KB had been going on a killing, kidnapping and bank robbery spree in Mindanao and exported their illegal activities to Metro Manila. In May 18, 1995, PACC operatives eventually caught up with the Mindanao mafia in Quezon City in a sensational case that was widely covered by the media. The so-called Kuratong Baleleng rubout case filed against then PACC chief Lacson and 33 PACC members was dismissed for lack of probable cause.

Come to think of it, President Duterte cited the KB rubout as a “fine example” in ridding the country of criminals. He made this remark before Manila-based reporters while campaigning in La Union in February this year. He told the media that he will “use the Kuratong Baleleng massacre in going after crime syndicates.”

The events have become frightening at this point. It will be interesting to watch if the resumption of the Senate probe will establish that EJKs are authorized by the state.

The death of Mayor Espinosa has fueled discussions related to the mayor’s affidavit which he executed after he surrendered to PNP chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa in August this year.

Espinosa, who had earlier confessed to the illegal drug trade of his son Kerwin, has identified 226 people including a senator of the republic, 18 other politicians, four members of the judiciary, 38 policemen, 7 CIDG personnel, 1 from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, 3 from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, 1 from the army and 3 media personalities as part of the network that the drug syndicate built and sustained in exchange for protection.

The whole scenario illustrates how members of criminal syndicates get off the hook and how some of them even become elective officials. Simply put, criminal activities cannot thrive minus the cooperation of law enforcers and local government officials. In effect, corrupt government officials and individuals are active players of the illegal drug trade.

Now that Mayor Espinosa is dead, the Espinosa files have become worthless unless new testimony would validate his statements. Will his son Kerwin avenge the death of his father by corroborating the statements of his old man? He is now detained in Abu Dhabi and awaits extradition this month. Already, the complaints that stemmed from the Espinosa list which had been filed against 47 people before the Office of the Ombudsman, the prosecutors’ office and the Philippine National Police are poised to be thrown to the garbage can because of the death of the elder Espinosa.

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Senator Leila de Lima has taken her battle against President Rodrigo Duterte before the Supreme Court. She has lodged a suit asking the SC to issue a writ of habeas data against the sitting President. The case is out to stop the President from “maligning and vilifying the senator in public for personal vendetta,” but she is also pushing it as a test case to see if the presidential immunity from suit could stand in the said complaint.

The case partakes of the sacredness of private information which is also protected by R.A. 10173 also known as “Data Privacy Act of 2012”.

I’m sure legal luminaries and advocates of the law, whatever their political affiliation, welcome the suit to see how far can presidential immunity go.