Leyte Rep. Vicente “Ching” Veloso, a former appellate justice, disputed the inclusion of his name in the affidavit of slain Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa as one of the protectors of the latter’s son Kerwin, said to be the biggest drug lord in the Eastern Visayas region.
In a statement posted on his Facebook page, the former Court of Appeals justice said there is no truth to the allegation he was the protector of Kerwin.
“To my constituents and friends in the 3rd district of Leyte: I thank you for the concern you posted about the inclusion of my name in the Aug 24, 2016 affidavit of the now-deceased Mayor Rolando Espinosa. The document implicated me as ‘protector’ of his son Kerwin in the latter’s illegal drug activities,” Veloso said.
“Let me assure you that this is far from the truth,” he added.
Veloso was said to be among the 226 people Espinosa named in his affidavit as being involved in his son’s drug trade.
READ: Slain mayor linked De Lima, 225 others to illegal drugs
But Veloso said he was not among the 47 persons who were sued by the police before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly protecting the Espinosas’ drug activities.
Those facing charges are Senator Leila De Lima, who was accused of receiving drug payola when she was justice secretary, as well as six other government officials, 33 police officers and seven private individuals.
Espinosa in his affidavit has named 226 people, including 18 other politicians, four members of the judiciary, 38 policemen, seven personnel of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), one from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, three from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, one from the Army and three from the media.
READ: 74 gov’t execs, 154 others face raps for coddling Kerwin Espinosa
“The affidavit of Mayor Espinosa has already triggered the filing of criminal / administrative charges against 33 police officers, 7 government officials and 7 private individuals, filed in batches at the Office of the Ombudsman, the Prosecutor’s office, and the Philippine National Police. To date, no administrative or criminal charge has been filed against me,” Veloso said.
“This only proves one thing: that there is no evidence that I have been a protector of Kerwin Espinosa,” he added.
To further dispute Espinosa’s affidavit against him, Veloso, citing the Rules of Court, said: “The affidavit of Espinosa, in so far as it concerns me, is based on hearsay because a witness can testify only to those facts which he knows of his personal knowledge.”
From his time as a National Labor Relations commissioner to appellate justice and now congressman, Veloso said he has never met the Espinosas and could not have protected them in the drug trade.
“Because I never met Kerwin Espinosa, Mayor Espinosa, or any of his alleged witnesses in the affidavit, I could not have influenced or protected people I never met,” Veloso said.
“As Court of Appeals Justice of Manila, my jurisdiction was limited to reviewing decisions of Regional Trial Court judges in Luzon; Region 8 cases are to be decided by the Court of Appeals Cebu. I became Congressman of the 3rd district functionally only on July 25, 2016: less than a month before Rolando Espinosa’s affidavit was written,” Veloso added.
READ: Albuera police chief asks CIDG: Why was Espinosa killed over 1 gun?
Veloso said he also had a courtesy call with Philippine National Police Chief Supt. Elmer Beltejar, who assured him that the police intelligence reports cleared him from the allegations.
“In a recent courtesy call from PNP Chief Superintendent Elmer Beltejar and in the presence of all Congressmen of Region 8, I inquired why my name was included in Espinosa’s affidavit. Chief Supt. Beltejar personally assured me that according to the intelligence reports gathered by his team, I was clearly not a protector of the drug trade,” Veloso said.
Veloso also warned of possible criminal charges of libel against the administrator of the Facebook page “Hidden Truth Ph,” which uploaded a portion of Espinosa’s affidavit naming Veloso as among Kerwin’s protectors.
“It appears that the inclusion of my name as drug protector – both in the affidavit of Mayor Espinosa and in the Facebook post being circulated – is politically motivated. The author of the Facebook post can be sued both civilly and criminally for the libelous statements released,” Veloso said.
Veloso said in his three months as congressman, over 2,000 drug dependents have surrendered in the third district of Leyte.
He has also organized church seminars for drug dependents, and has eyed to build a drug rehabilitation center in Calubian.
He added that he has authored pieces of legislation that seek to rehabilitate drug dependents in his congressional district, and implement anti-drugs enforcement operations.
“I have always been a staunch anti-drugs advocate, even before President Duterte was elected. Ultimately, I have never been – nor will ever be – a protector of anyone involved in the illegal drug trade. I will continue my efforts to prevent and quell the proliferation of drugs in the 3rd district of Leyte and in our nation,” Veloso said.
“To summarize, over the course of my employment, I had neither the opportunity nor the need to meet Kerwin Espinosa or his witnesses. I also could not have protected Espinosa in any of my roles as Commissioner, Justice, Professor, a retired private citizen, or as a one-month old Congressman,” he added.
On Nov. 5, Mayor Espinosa was killed by a raiding team of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Region VIII in what the police claimed to be a shoot-out, even though Espinosa and Yap were in detention at the sub-provincial jail in Baybay City.
READ: Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa killed in ‘firefight’ inside jail
The CIDG barged in the jail to serve a search warrant over suspicions the two were holding shabu and firearms inside their cells.
The CIDG alleged that Espinosa shot the police, prompting them to fire back, fatally hitting the mayor in the head, chest and stomach.
The raiding team recovered a .38-pistol and a pack of shabu from the cell of Espinosa, and a .45-pistol, 27 packs of marijuana and 21 sachets of shabu from Yap.
The CIDG also took the hard drive that contained a CCTV video of the incident.
The police are set to investigate the incident which former police chief Senator Panfilo Lacson believed was a clear case of extrajudicial killing.
READ: Espinosa slay clear case of extra-judicial killing–Lacson
Espinosa was expected to name more personalities involved in the illegal drug trade of his son Kerwin, said to be the biggest in Eastern Visayas region. Kerwin was arrested in Abu Dhabi after fleeing the charges.
Espinosa surrendered to authorities after he was named by President Rodrigo Duterte as among the local chief executives allegedly involved in the drug trade.
READ: Leyte mayor’s tearful plea to son: Let’s surrender
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