Mayor’s house raided; 6 guards gunned down

Outside Mayor Espinosa’s house. Photo by ROBERT DEJON/INQUIRER VISAYAS

ALBUERA, Leyte—It looked like a scene in an action movie.

Before the crack of dawn on Wednesday, at least 30 armed policemen deployed outside the gated three-story mansion of suspected  drug lord Rolando  “Kerwin” Espinosa Jr. at Sitio Tinago, Barangay Benolho.

By 5:40 a.m., six bodies were laid on the ground—two outside the house of Kerwin, two outside the house of his father, Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr., and another two on the road.

The police claimed that the fatalities were hired goons of Kerwin, who was tagged by his own father as the leader of a drug syndicate in Eastern Visayas.

Four goons managed to escape by passing through a separate gated compound of the elder Espinosa.

The head of the Philippine National Police office in Eastern Visayas, Chief Supt. Elmer Beltejar, said his men were patrolling near the mayor’s house when they were fired upon by the mayor’s bodyguards. The police fired back, killing six bodyguards.

Only one of the bodies was identified by a police informer because none had identification cards. One fatality was said to be Ricky Gratillo, a native of Albuera who used to be a member of the New People’s Army’s sparrow unit.

The clash came a day after the mayor surrendered to PNP Director General Ronald dela Rosa. Authorities alleged he had been protecting drug dealers, including Kerwin, who has not surrendered.

The mayor surrendered after President Duterte ordered him to yield within 24 hours or a “shoot-on-sight order” would be issued against him and his son. Dela Rosa has warned that the younger Espinosa “will die” if he chooses to shoot it out with the police.

Fled the country

Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos said authorities were looking into reports that the younger Espinosa had fled the country.

A police source said the suspected drug lord left Manila on June 21 for Kuala Lumpur on  budget airline Cebu Pacific under the name of Rolan Eslabon Espinosa.

Mr. Duterte, who campaigned on a promise he would eliminate drugs, criminality and corruption in three to six months, took office on June 30. Since then 402 suspected drug traffickers have been killed in clashes with police, PNP records show. At least 4,418 others have been arrested.

Fourteen high-powered firearms, including a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle with silencer, M14 rifles and M16 rifles as well as five .45 cal. pistols were recovered by the police from the fatalities.

Chief Insp. Jove Espinido, Albuera police chief, said these firearms were expensive, which only the likes of the Espinosas could afford to buy for their own protection.

Wednesday’s operation was the third conducted by the police against the Espinosas after

Mr. Duterte issued his shoot-on-sight order on Monday night.

Family enterprise

Police tagged Kerwin, the eldest son of the mayor, as the biggest drug lord in Eastern Visayas.

But Senior Supt. Frank Simborio, Leyte police director, said that the Espinosa family operated the illegal drug trade as a “family enterprise.”

Mayor Espinosa, who is serving his first term, ran as an independent candidate who, ironically, promised to stop illegal drugs in the town.

He described himself as a businessman who was able to buy several pieces of property, but police officials claimed these were bought using proceeds from the illegal drug trade.

The properties of the Espinosas indicated vast wealth, which is not common in this third-class town where most of the residents rely on farmlands and fishing for their sustenance.

3-story mansion

Kerwin owns a three-story mansion with swimming pool and a fountain inside a 1,000-square-meter gated compound in Benolho. Beside the mansion is a smaller house for Kerwin’s security force. Beside it is the mayor’s compound and bungalow.

But 50 meters away from the two houses is the original home of the Espinosa family on a 5,000-square-meter lot with a stage where Sunday Masses are held, a kiosk and a tent for cockfights. The mayor breeds fighting cocks.

Inside the property is a fenced area where the family kept their six Jet Skis and one speedboat. The other speedboat was at the family-owned hotel, also in Albuera.

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