De Lima wants Espinosa brother to face Senate inquiry

Senator Leila de Lima wants the brother of slain Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. to face the Senate in connection with his reported statement that the mayor’s affidavit linking her to illegal drugs trade was “ready-made.”

The Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs chaired by Senator Panfilo Lacson is set to hold an inquiry on Thursday jointly with the committee on justice and human rights on the circumstances surrounding Espinosa’s death and that of Mayor Samsudin Dimaukom of Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao, and nine of his men last October 28.

“May nabasa ako sa Cebu Daily News, a report on that allegedly the brother of the slain mayor said something na binanggit sa kanya ni mayor, obviously before sya namatay na hindi sa kanya galing yung listahan na yan, so prepared na,” De Lima told reporters on Tuesday.

(I have read a report from Cebu Daily News that allegedly the brother of the slain mayor said something, that the mayor mentioned to him obviously before his death that the list did not come from him, it was already prepared.)

“In other words, coerced na naman na testimony yan kasi ganun din ang mga nangyari sa tingin ko don sa mga prenesent nila sa House inquiry (the testimony is also coerced because I think it also happened to those they presented in the House inquiry),” she said.

The senator was referring to the investigation conducted by House of Representatives justice committee into the alleged proliferation of illegal drugs at the New Bilibid Prison where several witnesses had testified and accused then Justice Secretary De Lima of allegedly receiving drug money. She has repeatedly denied the allegation.

De Lima said she would ask the committee to invite Espinosa’s brother Ramon to face the hearing and shed light on his testimony.

The brother  reportedly quoted the mayor as telling him that his affidavit, which contained the names of 226 illegal drug coddlers, was “ready-made.” The list supposedly included De Lima.

“Ako siyang gipangutana, ‘Kanang imong gipangsuwat diha sa imong affidavit, ikaw gyud nagsuwat?’ Ingon siya, ‘Dili akong naghimo sa akong affidavit. Igo ra ko nga gipapirma. Giandam na tong daan,’ (One time, I asked my brother ‘Did you really make the affidavit?’ And he told me he did not. He said it was prepared by someone else, and he was just asked to affix my signature on it. The affidavit was ready-made when it was given to him),” Ramon was quoted by Cebu Daily News as saying.

READ: Espinosa family cries rubout, mayor killed to ‘silence’ him

“Gusto ko lang malinawan kung totoo yung sinabi nya dun sa Cebu Daily News (I just want to know if he was telling the truth in the Cebu Daily News report),” De Lima said.

The senator reiterated that she did not know the Espinosas and that she was never a protector, a coddler, or a beneficiary of the illegal drug trade.

“So bakit kasama na naman ako dyan and supposedly number one na naman daw ako sa listahan (So why am I included and supposedly number one on the list)?”

“Talagang may mga nagmamaniobra ng lahat ng ito na pinapalabas nga na involved ako. Pinaninindigan na nila yung mga sinasabi lalo na ng ating Pangulo na mukhang ako na daw yung leading narco-politician dito sa bansang ito and ako pa nga ang nag convert sa bansang ito allegedly into a narco state so pinapanidigan na nila lahat so lahat siguro ng listahan na ipapalabas nila nandun ako,” De Lima added.

(There are people who fabricate all these to show that I’m involved [in illegal drugs]. They are standing up to the their claims, especially the President, that it seems like I’m the leading narco-politician in the country and I converted this country into a narco state so my name is probably included on all the lists they would show.) RAM/rga