MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Bong Go’s aide Irmina Espino otherwise known as “Muking” denied on Monday her supposed role as the “disbursing officer” in the financial operations related to former President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war.
At the Senate blue ribbon subcommitte’s probe into Duterte’s bloody drug war, Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel, who was presiding over the hearing, asked Espino whether or not there’s truth that she’s handing out incentives to rogue police officers for extrajudicial killings.
READ: Diokno: Duterte’s OP listed 20,322 drug-war deaths as accomplishments
“Did I hear it right? To the point that you are handing out money. It’s true, but what context??” asked Pimentel.
At the lower chamber, retired police colonel Royina Garma said Go allegedly coordinated with National Police Commission Commissioner Edilberto Leonardo in setting up a system to give police officers cash incentives for every drug suspect in the drug list killed.
She said Go is being helped by Espino.
For her part, Espino clarified her role in Duterte’s drug campaign.
“Actually, what the former President said was not that elaborate. I mentioned earlier that I am not the disbursing officer, so the support he is saying is office supplies, office equipment, and that gasoline that we give to the precinct commanders in every precinct in Davao City,” she said.
“No cash. Whart we have is a gas slip. These are what the police in change received from our designated personnel, and not directly from me,” she emphasized.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency listed 6,252 dead in anti-drug police operations from July 1, 2016 to May 31, 2022.
A 2017 year end report attributed to the Office of the President, however, listed more than 20,000 dead in the first 17 months alone of the Duterte administration.