Lacson doubts parts of Kerwin Espinosa’s story

Sen. Panfilo Lacson. INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON

MANILA — Sen. Panfilo Lacson said on Wednesday night there were “loose ends that needed to be tied up” in the testimonies and counter-testimonies of confessed drug trafficker Kerwin Espinosa.

“If I were the investigator, I would try to find out what was really true. If you would objectively see it, it’s not really solid as presented by Kerwin,” Lacson said.

This included Espinosa’s account that Albuera police chief Jovie Espenido was the one who connected him with Ronnie Dayan, former bodyguard and boyfriend of Sen. Leila de Lima.

Lacson said he wanted to know how Espenido got to know Dayan, noting that the Albuera police chief denied he had connected Espinosa to Dayan.

“It’s confusing right now but Dayan has spoken that he and Espinosa knew each other,” Lacson told reporters after the nine-hour-long hearing.

He said Espinosa had to tie up loose ends in his testimonies to “make us convinced that his stories were true.”

Lacson admitted that he had “some doubts as to the veracity of the testimony of Kerwin.”

The senator said they needed more corroboration on Espinosa’s testimonies regarding policemen on his payroll because of the denials of the police officers and the absence of corroborating evidence.

Asked whether he would call Dayan to testify in the next hearing, Lacson said the former De Lima aide was set to testify before the House justice committee on Thursday (Nov. 24). He said they would only call Dayan if necessary.  SFM