MANILA, Philippines – Police Lieutenant Jovie Espenido walked back from all the statements he made during Senate hearings in 2016, which had been instrumental in the eventual arrest of former senator Leila de Lima on trumped-up drug charges.
“Are you retracting all the testimonies you gave against [former] senator De Lima during that Senate investigation?” Batangas 2nd District Representative Gerville Luistro asked Espenido during the House quad committee hearing on Tuesday, October 22.
“Yes, your honor,” Espenido replied.
Espenido also complemented alleged drug lord Kerwin Espinosa’s statement on October 11 that Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, then national police chief, forced him to testify against De Lima.
“There’s also a testimony coming from Kerwin Espinosa that you and him were instructed to talk to each other to make sure that your testimonies against senator De Lima are consistent? Do you confirm this?” Luistro asked.
“I confirm,” Espenido said.
Espenido was chief of Albuera, Leyte police in 2016 when he testified before the Senate that slain Albuera mayor Rolando Espinosa had signed the affidavit which linked De Lima and many other politicians to the narcotics trade. The then-senator supposedly received drug money when she was justice secretary.
De Lima was arrested in February 2017 and spent nearly seven years in jail, becoming the most high-profile political detainee under the administration of Rodrigo Duterte.
Critics believe she was targeted for speaking out against Duterte’s drug war, and the extrajudicial killings that took place under his leadership.
De Lima was released in November 2023, and the last drug charge against her was dropped in June. – Rappler.com