Officer says Leyte officials part of mayor’s drug group

SENATE PROBE Chief Insp. Leo Laraga, leader of the raiding
team,was the one who shot AlbueraMayor Rolando Espinosa
dead. —LYN RILLON

The police was prompted to secure a search warrant for Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa in Samar and not Leyte because top provincial leaders there, including movie actor and Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez and Leyte Gov. Dominico Petilla, were allegedly part of the group Espinosa had linked to the illegal drug trade.

This was stated on Thursday by Chief Insp. Leo Laraga of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Region 8 (Eastern Visayas), who headed the raid on the cell of Espinosa, during the first hearing of the Senate inquiry into the Nov. 5 operation conducted by a CIDG-8 team that led to the killing of Espinosa and another inmate, Raul Yap.

Both Espinosa and Yap were gunned down by the CIDG team for allegedly firing at them as they were serving search warrants on the two inmates.

Laraga told senators this was the “compelling” reason the CIDG had in seeking the search warrant from Bassey, Samar province, on Nov. 4.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III had asked why the team had to get the search warrants from Samar rather than Leyte, where there are many regional trial courts.

Explaining, Laraga, who shot and killed Espinosa, said the mayor had made statements that there were top provincial leaders who belonged to the “Espinosa Drug Group.”

Pressed to identify the personalities, Laraga named Vice Mayor Mike Cari of Baybay City, Leyte Rep. Vicente “Ching” Veloso of the third district, in addition to Gomez and Petilla.

That was why it would be difficult to apply for search warrants in the courts of Leyte, he said.

Laraga said he heard the Albuera police head, Chief Insp. Jovie Espenido, personally mentioning Gomez and the other officials during a case conference.

In a Facebook post, Gomez denied involvement in illegal drugs. He said Espenido had forced Espinosa to link the actor to the illegal drug operations.

“I initially did not want to dignify this with an answer, but given that this is politically motivated and very malicious, I am speaking up,” he said.

Petilla and Veloso likewise issued denials. “I will resign immediately if they can show evidence that I am a protector of the Espinosas,” said Veloso, a former Court of Appeals justice.

Petilla said he met Espinosa once but turned down his request to join the Liberal Party. —WITH REPORTS FROM JOEY GABIETA AND CONNIE E. FERNANDEZ