Mayor killed in jail; shootout, say cops

TACLOBAN—Philippine police killed a town mayor in his jail cell on Saturday in an alleged gunbattle with officers, the second slaying in a week of a politician linked to illegal drugs under the President’s unrelenting crackdown.

Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. of Albuera town in central Leyte province and fellow inmate Raul Yap were shot dead before dawn after they fired at officers who staged a raid in search of firearms and illegal drugs.

The police report offered scant details. It said that the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Eastern Visayas, led by Chief Insp. Leo Laraga, were serving the search warrant in the cell of the two men in Baybay City when the predawn shootout ensued. The jail facility is managed by the provincial government of Leyte.

Rights groups and some officials have questioned the suspicious circumstances surrounding the deaths.

“The death of Albuera Mayor Espinosa is unfortunate,” Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said. “Investigation is now ongoing but initial reports indicate that the mayor was killed while being served a search warrant.”

Investigation

An anticrime watchdog has called for an investigation into the killings, wondering how the slain mayor and the other inmate got hold of guns and what prompted them to clash with several policemen while in detention.

Last week, police killed another town mayor, Samsudin Dimaukom, and nine of his men allegedly in a gunbattle in the southern Philippines.

Espinosa and Dimaukom were among more than 160 officials publicly named by President Duterte in August as part of a shame campaign. Espinosa’s son, Kerwin, an alleged drug lord, was arrested in the United Arab Emirates’ capital city of Abu Dhabi last month.

Affidavit

After being linked by Duterte to illegal drugs, Espinosa surrendered in August in a nationally televised event. He was later released but was arrested again after being indicted for drug and illegal possession of firearm charges.

He also executed an affidavit identifying seven people allegedly involved in his son’s drug syndicate. He did not identify them but hinted that some were top police officials, congressmen and a senator.

‘Human rights calamity’

Statistics released by the police recently said 1,790 suspected drug users and pushers were killed and more than 33,000 others arrested since Mr. Duterte launched the campaign when he assumed power on June 30. At least 3,000 others were “under investigation” with majority of them classified as suspected killings by unknown vigilantes.

Mr. Duterte claims the crackdown has helped to reduce crimes, but the United States, European Union and United Nations have all expressed concern. Rights investigators from the world body are to visit early next year to carry out an investigation into what they said was a “human rights calamity.”

Drug lord

Espinosa Sr. earlier named Peter Co as one of the drug suppliers of his son who was identified as the biggest drug lord in the Eastern Visayas region in August. He had urged Kerwin to give up as he presented himself to Philippine National Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa.

Wu Tuan Yuan, alias Peter Co, is serving a life sentence after being convicted in 2001 of selling illegal drugs. In July, Mr. Duterte tagged him as one of the three alleged “top tier” drug lords who supply the largest amount of drugs in the country from China. Co was later wounded in a September riot inside New Bilibid Prison.

Albuera refused to publicly name the officials in an initial affidavit he had executed, pending his request to be placed under the government’s Witness Protection Program.

He said some of his son’s protectors were top police officials, congressmen and a senator, among others.

Espinosa subsequently called on his son’s partners, whom he identified as Galo Bobares, Max Miro, Tonypet Zaldivar and Ferdinand Rondina, to give up.

Miro, the right-hand man of Kerwin, surrendered on Sept. 23 and turned over P24 million worth of “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) to authorities. —WITH A REPORT FROM LEILA B. SALAVERRIA, INQUIRER RESEARCH AND AP/rga