DOJ reverses decision clearing Espinosa, 3 others of drug raps

July 19, 2018

The Department of Justice (DOJ) Thursday reversed an earlier decision clearing drug operator Kerwin Espinosa and three others over drug raps filed by the Philippine National Police ( PNP) and ordered charges filed against them.

A new DOJ panel chaired by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera upheld the complaint of PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), and approved the filing of charges against Espinosa, Peter Co, Lovely Impal and Ruel Malindangan for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

The case will be filed against them before the Makati City Regional Trial Court Friday.

The DOJ panel did not resolve the drug charges of the CIDG against Cebuano businessman Peter Lim after the panel granted his plea for a separate preliminary investigation.

In its resolution, the DOJ panel based its findings on the testimony of state witness Marcelo Adorco, who confessed participation in the illegal drug trade and pinpointed Espinoza, Co, Impal and Malindangan as his cohorts.

The investigating prosecutors said contrary to the defense of Espinosa the confiscation or presence of the illegal drugs was not necessary to establish criminal liabilities of respondents.

They said under the law, conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading is an offense distinct from drug trading.

The panel also cited as basis the confession of Espinosa during a Senate inquiry that he was involved in drug trade in Central and Eastern Visayas.

The DOJ dismissed late last year charges of sale, administration, dispensation, trading, delivery and transportation of illegal drugs against the respondents.

The previous panel, composed of Assistant State Prosecutors Michael John Humarang and Aristotle Reyes, faulted the PNP-CIDG for presenting weak evidence and the “inconsistencies” in the testimony of Adorco.

Due to outrage triggered by the dismissal of the charges against Lim and Espinosa, which earned the ire of President Rodrigo Duterte himself, the DOJ reopened the case and conducted a reinvestigation upon order of resigned Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.

Additional pieces of evidence were then submitted by the CIDG, through the assistance of the Office of the Solicitor General. Among the evidence include a new affidavit of Adorco showing the alleged meeting between Lim and Espinosa in Thailand in 2015 where they closed a drug trade deal.

The police also submitted records from the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to support Adorco's claim.

The complainant also presented to the panel of prosecutors the transcripts of the 2016 Senate hearings on the investigation of the killing of Espinosa’s father, Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. where he confessed his role in the illegal drug trade as well as the 2002 House of Representatives committee on dangerous drugs report over the inquiry on the drug activities of Lim and his brother Wellington.

They submitted a certified true copy of the “blue book” of a certain Bebeth Rebecca Diano that allegedly listed those who are under Espinosa’s payola. DMS