Dispatch from Crame No. 282:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima on Kerwin Espinosa's case, a grand cover-up

4/13/18

Many questions linger in my mind about the whole DOJ-Kerwin Espinosa-Peter Lim-Peter Co affair.

But let me focus first on Kerwin Espinosa.

Where is Kerwin Espinosa now? Still with the Witness Protection Program? Is there still basis for his continued WPP coverage?

Didn't this guy, as CIDG has revealed, recant already his previous testimony at the Senate? And, I assume such testimony where he admitted to his drug dealings as Region 8's biggest drug lord and pointed to so-called cohorts and protectors of his, was the very basis of his admission into the WPP.

If that is the case, wouldn't his reported recantation serve to nullify his WPP coverage on the ground of serious breach of his agreement with the government as represented by then Justice Secretary Aguirre in his capacity as the WPP Chief Implementor?

To put it plainly--what is now the raison d'être for Kerwin's WPP admission if he already disowned his previous admissions relative to his status as a big-time drug lord and his drug connections?

I also wonder why the DOJ kept such fact of recantation under wraps. Up to now, DOJ has neither confirmed nor denied what the CIDG has disclosed, rather unwittingly. Why?

Is it because they wouldn't want the public to know that such recantation most probably included his perjurious claim that I am one of his alleged protectors and an alleged beneficiary of P8M drug money?

Necessarily and logically, such a fictional tale having been disowned, it would appear that Kerwin's entire testimony before the Senate was under duress. Let's not forget also Marcelo Adorco's own admission (as told to investigative journalist Nancy Carvajal in an interview) that he was coached into pinning me down.

Who was/were responsible for their coerced stories? Who coached or threatened them to implicate me?

Are Kerwin Espinosa and Marcelo Adorco (wherever they are) safe now? I ask this because, as variously reported by media, there have been successive serial killings of individuals associated with Kerwin. Per our count, there are at least 9 such Espinosa-related killings, to wit:

1. EDGAR ALLAN ALVAREZ, one of Kerwin's alleged drug sources, killed on 11 Aug. 2016, inside the Leyte Regional Penitentiary in Abuyog;

2. ROGELIO BATO, JR., Kerwin's former lawyer, killed last 24 Aug. 2016, in Tacloban City;

3. ANNALOU LLAGUNO, Kerwin's ex-wife, killed last 30 Sept. 2016, in Cebu City;

4. MAYOR ROLANDO ESPINOSA, SR., Kerwin's father, killed last 5 Nov. 2016 inside his jail cell in Leyte;

5. FERDINAND RONDINA, an alleged bagman of Kerwin, killed last 6 Jan. 2017, in Ormoc City;

6. JAKE BOLANIO DELA CRUZ, Kerwin's brother-in-law, killed last 8 Aug. 2017, in Davao City;

7. NELSON "Jun" PEPITO, Kerwin's former driver-bodyguard, killed last 1 Dec. 2017, in Albuera, Leyte;

8. JONAH JOHN UNGAB, Kerwin's lawyer, killed last 19 Feb. 2018, just outside the Cebu City Hall of Justice after a hearing with his client (If I recall correctly, this lawyer assisted Kerwin during the Senate hearings); and

9. MAX MIRO, Kerwin's right-hand man, killed last 10 March 2018, in Ormoc City.

Who are killing Kerwin Espinosa's minions? Their cohorts in the illegal drug trade? The authorities? Kerwin's real protectors/benefactors, which include government officials and men in the uniformed sector? Or, are they killing them as a warning to Kerwin, wanting him silenced for knowing too much, and also to prevent him from exposing the truth about my innocence?

Are there ongoing investigations, genuine ones, into these killings? What is their status?

One thing is sure though. No one is investigating, or will dare investigate, the circumstances surrounding this whole mystery, particularly Kerwin's fabricated story about my links to him and his drug trade.

Would it be too much to ask the new DOJ Secretary, the incoming PNP Chief, and also the Senate to dig deeper into all these? FOR TRUTH's SAKE.

I hope people realize that there is here a grand cover-up...