DOJ unsure Dayan will join witness protection program

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II indicated on Tuesday that he was unsure if Ronnie Dayan would enter the government’s witness protection program (WPP) after Sen. Leila de Lima’s former driver and lover failed to show up at a meeting to discuss details of his possible inclusion.

Aguirre told reporters he expected both Dayan and alleged drug lord Kerwin Espinosa to meet him at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to iron out their proposed inclusion in the WPP and as witnesses against De Lima who allegedly received bribe money from drug lords inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) when she was justice secretary.

“He (Dayan) is a free man and he could go anywhere he wants to go and nobody can compel him to go to the DOJ,” Aguirre said. “The last word we heard from him was he was coming here but we are still waiting.”

Aguirre last week said the government has agreed to provisionally accept Dayan and Espinosa into the WPP following their testimonies on the alleged delivery of drug money to De Lima.

Prosecutors wanted to clear up discrepancies in Dayan’s testimony in the House of Representatives last Thursday, and getting him into the program would embolden him to divulge more information, according to Aguirre.

Espinosa also did not show up at the meeting on Tuesday but this was because the Philippine National Police had not obtained court clearance for his transfer to the National Bureau of Investigation, Aguirre said.

Aguirre has expressed doubts about Dayan’s testimony in the House of Representatives’ probe on the proliferation of illegal drugs in the NBP.

There is no warrant of arrest for Dayan and he has yet to decide whether he would accept the DOJ’s offer to enter the WPP, Aguirre said.