Espinosa, Dayan to face off in Senate inquiry

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

Kerwin Espinosa and Ronnie Dayan will square off today at the resumption of a Senate inquiry into allegations Sen. Leila de Lima received drug money.

Espinosa, tagged as the No. 1 drug lord in Eastern Visayas, and Dayan, De Lima’s former bodyguard and lover, have been summoned to appear before the Senate to clarify perceived inconsistencies in their statements regarding the purported delivery of P8-million protection money to the senator when she was justice secretary.

But for Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who is heading the Senate inquiry, it looked like Espinosa somehow edged Dayan in the credibility department.

Espinosa and Dayan were invited to appear at the third and, possibly, last hearing of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs, which is looking into the Nov. 5 killing by a police team of Kerwin’s father, Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr., who was buried on Sunday.

The team led by Supt. Marvin Marcos, who shot dead Espinosa in a Leyte jail a month ago, claimed the mayor fought them off but inmates and jail guards testified otherwise, prompting Lacson to say that the mayor’s death appeared premeditated following Kerwin’s revelation officers were on his payroll.

‘Loose ends’

Speaking on a dzBB program, Lacson said the committee would now have the chance to tie up “loose ends” in the testimonies of Espinosa and Dayan.

Espinosa left the country in June, deciding that Mr. Duterte meant to fulfill his campaign promise to eliminate the drug menace. He was captured in Abu Dhabi and was extradited to the Philippines.

Dayan likewise disappeared after he was summoned to appear before the House of Representatives. He was caught two weeks after a P1-million bounty was put up for his arrest.

Lacson said he had asked officers to verify Espinosa’s claim he was in Baguio City on Nov.19, 2015, where he had supposedly met with De Lima at Burnham Park. Dayan said the meeting took place in 2014.

“This is to show that Kerwin was right in his testimony … . So it’s going to be Dayan’s word against Kerwin but this time there will be documents to prove this. But it seemed Espinosa’s statement outweighed that of Dayan,” Lacson said.

Espinosa also claimed he met Dayan through the Albuera police chief, Supt. Jovie Espenido, who in turn denied he was the bridge between the two men.

Dayan, on the other hand, testified that it was De Lima who ordered him to call up Espinosa and that he had made errands for her involving Espinosa.

De Lima, for her part, has vehemently denied the claims made by Dayan and Espinosa. She blamed the Duterte administration of being behind the congressional inquiries to shame her.

Lacson said it seemed that Dayan was trying to save himself because he did not know Espinosa was a drug lord, only as an engineer.

Visit to Leyte

He said he also had asked for evidence to show whether Dayan and De Lima visited Leyte or the town of Albuera, around August until October.

Among the information that came to him was that Mayor Espinosa had wanted to run as mayor representing the Liberal Party but that this did not happen and he eventually ran as an independent candidate.

Also set to appear at the hearing was Supt. Asher Dolina, a former PNP director of Eastern Visayas, whom Espinosa alleged giving P6 million as protection money.

President Duterte last week cleared Dolina from any wrongdoing, and Lacson said the President may have confused things when he made that statement.