Witness program accepts Dayan, Espinosa

Ronnie Dayan and alleged drug lord turned witness Kerwin Espinosa. INQUIRER PHOTOS

The government has agreed to  provisionally accept Ronnie Dayan and Kerwin Espinosa to the witness protection program (WPP), despite inconsistencies between their testimonies on the alleged delivery of drug money to Sen. Leila de Lima, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said on Friday.

Aguirre said prosecutors wanted to clear up discrepancies in Dayan’s testimony in the House on Thursday, and getting him into the program would embolden him to divulge more.

Once he does, he would be granted  regular status on the WPP.

“We have a lot of questions to ask supposedly on inconsistencies in his statement and we want to clear that up. Personally, I think that he is hiding a lot,” Aguirre told a press briefing.

Dayan appeared to be holding back because he did not want to admit deeper involvement in the drug trade, Aguirre said.

While Dayan corroborated Espinosa’s testimony that he received drug money for delivery to De Lima, he denied receiving funds from high-profile inmates and Rafael Ragos, deputy director of the National Bureau of Investigation.

Dayan’s and Espinosa’s testimonies also differed on the year and the frequency of the money drop-offs.

Change testimony

“It’s possible that he might change (testimony) and if he does, we would evaluate and perhaps admit him. But we don’t know that now,” said Aguirre, who skipped Thursday’s hearing.

“Not all inconsistencies would disqualify a witness from the WPP. We have a number of Supreme Court decisions where minor inconsistencies could be proof that someone was telling the truth,” he said.

Aguirre said the Department of Justice (DOJ) had no hand in the four-page affidavit submitted by Dayan to the House committee on justice.

Dayan has traveled back to his hometown in Pangasinan to be with his family, but he promised Aguirre he would return to the DOJ to formalize his entry into the WPP next week.

Aguirre said he was more confident about Espinosa’s testimony in the Senate on Wednesday, which would be used as the “smoking gun” to pin down De Lima. Espinosa claimed he gave P8 million in drug proceeds to De Lima, which Dayan appears to have corroborated.

He said the DOJ lawyers would also vet Espinosa for a new affidavit as part of requirements for WPP admission.

Malacañang believes Dayan can play a key role in the probe, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said.

“I think one of the senators said to allow for certain discrepancies, but I believe he’s still a vital witness to the whole illegal drug trade situation,” Abella said.

President Duterte had earlier identified Dayan as the link between De Lima and the drug lords operating from New Bilibid Prison.

Mr. Duterte said Dayan, who had been De Lima’s boyfriend, had collected payoffs for her from the detained drug lords.

He later described Dayan as a “vital witness.”

The legislators found it hard to believe Dayan’s statement that he had no influence over De Lima, given that he had recommended to her certain people for positions in the  government.

During a trip to Zamboanga city on Friday, Mr. Duterte said he would leave it up to the people to judge the conduct of lawmakers who led the House inquiry.

“I cannot criticize them. I cannot praise them so I better keep silent. Let the people of the Republic of the Philippines judge the event anyway they want it. This is a free country,” he said, responding to queries on the lawmaker’s salacious conduct during the inquiry.