QUALIFIED WITNESS? Rolan “Kerwin” Espinosa is presented by then Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa on Nov. 18, 2016, after Espinosa was brought home following his arrest in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 17 that year. OnNov. 5, Espinosa’s father, Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr., also suspected as a drug lord, was shot dead while in police detention. —Niño Jesus Orbeta
MANILA, Philippines — Confessed drug lord Rolan “Kerwin” Espinosa can be a material witness in the investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into the drug war of the previous administration if he can directly link former President Rodrigo Duterte and the Philippine National Police, especially its former chief and now senator, Ronald dela Rosa, to the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) during that time.
Former Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares, who serves as one of the lawyers for the families of the EJK victims, on Sunday told the Inquirer that Espinosa should first come up with a sworn statement on his knowledge of the EJKs committed during the Duterte administration’s drug war.
On Saturday, Espinosa, who is running for mayor in his hometown of Albuera, Leyte, said in a press conference that he was “1,000 percent” willing to testify before the ICC.
READ: Confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa runs for mayor in Leyte
“Of course, his testimony will be relevant since it is related to the EJKs. Will he ever be material to the case? It will depend on his testimony,” Colmenares pointed out.
He emphasized that the condition for Espinosa’s testimony to be “material” is whether he can link Duterte and Dela Rosa to the killings.
Colmenares suggested that it would be best for Espinosa to first testify at the ongoing quad committee hearings by the House of Representatives, which is also looking into the drug war.
“For now, what we are seeing is a mere press statement. He must come up with a sworn statement that is also notarized,” he noted.
The process of admitting Espinosa as an ICC witness can take two ways, according to Colmenares.
The first is through the counsel of the victims’ relatives, if Espinosa is willing to cooperate with them. Colmenares said their lawyers can therefore process him as an additional witness.
The second is that the ICC prosecutor can communicate directly with Espinosa since he has publicly stated that he is willing to testify.
For Kristina Conti, cocounsel of Colmenares, Espinosa can even qualify as a victim, considering that there is a “broad qualification” for identifying the victims of a case in the ICC and that the confessed drug lord had mentioned his father’s death.
Kerwin’s father, former Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr., died in an alleged shootout with elements of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group while inside his cell at the subprovincial jail in Baybay town, Leyte, on Nov. 5, 2016.
Another role that Espinosa may take during the ICC hearing is to become an “insider witness… if he has information on how the incidents have happened.”
Du30 willing to face House
In Davao City, Duterte said he would be willing to appear before the House quad committee investigating the drug war and Pogo (Philippine offshore gaming operators) activities if ever he would be invited to testify.
“If it’s their pleasure, why not? If they will invite me, I just hope that they will ask educated questions,” the former President said in a press conference late Saturday night.
But Duterte also said he believed that nothing would come out of the House investigation.
“What do they want to know? Extrajudicial killings? They’re true. Illegal drugs. That’s why people died, it’s because of illegal drugs,” he said in a mix of Filipino and English.
On Sunday, the head of the quad committee noted the standing invitation for the former president to participate in the super panel’s inquiry.
“We have a standing invitation for ex-President Duterte in the committee on human rights which was absorbed by the quad comm,” Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers told the Inquirer in a text message.
The formal invitation was issued during the quad committee’s second hearing on Aug. 22 after Duterte was implicated by Davao Prison and Penal Farm inmates Leopoldo Tan Jr. and Fernando Magdadaro in the killing of three Chinese convicted drug lords inside the prison’s maximum security facility.
Barbers pointed out that Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. had moved to issue a formal invitation for Duterte, with the motion approved by the super panel’s members.
Legal assistance offer
The quad committee, which includes the committees on dangerous drugs, public order and safety, human rights, and public accounts, is looking into the link of Pogos to syndicated crimes as well as the thousands of killings during Duterte’s drug war.
Tan had testified that Supt. Gerardo Padilla, the former head of the prison, had received a supposed congratulatory phone call from Duterte following the killing of the three Chinese nationals.
The human rights committee, chaired by Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr., had a standing invitation for Duterte to shed light on the deaths before the panel joined the quad committee inquiry.
“We are trying to invite former President Duterte to answer these allegations. We are not considering him as a perpetrator or accused. We would like him to [make it] clear to us what happened in the war on drugs where thousands were killed and were accused (of drug offenses),” Abante had said in a Sept. 22 radio interview.
“He’s the only one who can actually clear his name in these things. It’s not just the killing of thousands but these people had no chance to due process,” Abante said.
A similar standing invitation has been issued to Senator Dela Rosa, who, as PNP chief, was the architect of the drug war. But Dela Rosa is a fellow lawmaker, as the quad committee members had also noted.
Asked whether the order to assassinate the Chinese drug lords came from him, Duterte said: “If you’re a drug lord, even if you’re already in hell, still I will kill you. You do not have the right to destroy a generation of Filipinos just because of money. That’s my answer.”
Asked what he felt about officials of his administration being cited for contempt by the quad committee for lying or refusing to answer key questions, Duterte said he would support them legally and that he would do all he could to give them legal representation.
“They will have my support legally,” he said, adding that he would even risk his own reputation and help, in particular, police and military personnel when they face cases in the performance of their duty.
“Whether right or wrong, if they belong to the police or the military and they ask for my help, I am ready to help,” he said. “I believe that without the support of the police and the military, I could not have succeeded in transforming Davao into what it is now,” Duterte said.