Bagman who knew cops in drugs slain

Kerwin Espinosa under heavy guard during his appearance at the Senate on Dec. 5 last year —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

ALBUERA, LEYTE—An alleged bagman of suspected drug lord Rolando “Kerwin” Espinosa Jr., who had information on drug payoffs to policemen and government officials, has been assassinated hours before police arrested two other aides of Kerwin.

Ferdinand Rondina, 38, was watching TV at the barbecue stall of his sister outside his house in Ormoc City on Friday when two men wearing bonnets shot him repeatedly.

The gunmen drew near Rondina as he lay dying and shot him in the face, making sure he’ll be dead, according to witnesses’ accounts given to investigators.

Among Rondina’s task for Kerwin, who has been tagged as Eastern Visayas’ biggest drug lord and admitted into the government’s witness protection program, had been to distribute drug payoffs to policemen and government officials, according to information submitted to Chief Insp. Jovie Espenido, this town’s former police chief who had been transferred to Ozamiz City.

About 12 hours after Rondina’s killing, police arrested two alleged henchmen of Kerwin—Brian Anthony Zaldivar and Jesus Tulin.

Deadly jail

Zaldivar and Tulin will be brought to the Leyte subprovincial jail in Baybay City, where Kerwin’s father, Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr., was killed during a police raid that is now being investigated by the Senate as a case of extrajudicial killing.

The two alleged henchmen were arrested for the 2015 killing of Gregorio Velarde Sr., caretaker of a beach house being built by Kerwin at that time. Kerwin has been linked to the killing as a mastermind.

Rondina and one of the arrested men, Zaldivar, had been tapped as witnesses by Espenido against officials and police offices protecting Kerwin’s drug syndicate.

Worthless surrender

Zaldivar had retracted a statement on the involvement of police officers and government officials in drugs that he gave Espenido, claiming he was forced by Espenido to sign the affidavit.

Rondina did not backtrack on his affidavit identifying the policemen and officers who had received drug money from Kerwin’s drug operations in the provinces of Leyte, Southern Leyte, Samar, Eastern Samar, Biliran and Northern Samar.

Rondina, months before he was killed, had surrendered during Oplan “Tokhang,” a police house-to-house campaign to draw out drug suspects.

Rondina had also surrendered to Espenido after learning that he was among those named by Kerwin’s father as among those involved in Kerwin’s drug syndicate.

Espenido’s transfer to Ozamiz came after he was tagged as the one who introduced Kerwin to Ronnie Dayan, former driver of Sen. Leila de Lima, who had been accused of getting P8 million in drug money from Kerwin to be used for her senatorial campaign. Espenido had denied the claim.