7 Ormoc cops in custody for attack on Espinosa
- The cops were found in a residential compound following the pursuit of the alleged gunman who shot and wounded confessed drug lord and mayoral candidate Rolan “Kerwin” Espinosa.
- Espinosa, 47, who is running for mayor of Albuera, was waiting for his turn to speak during a campaign rally in Barangay Tinag-an on Thursday afternoon, when a man suddenly fired at him, hitting him on the chest. His running mate and younger sister, Mariel Espinosa Marinay, and a girl were slightly injured.
- The 7 officers were wearing civilian clothes. Two of them are officials while the five others are noncommissioned officers, she said.
TACLOBAN CITY—The Albuera, Leyte, police has taken custody of seven police officers from Ormoc City who were found in a residential compound following the pursuit of the alleged gunman who shot and wounded confessed drug lord Rolan “Kerwin” Espinosa, the authorities said on Friday.
Espinosa, 47, who is running for mayor of Albuera, was waiting for his turn to speak during a campaign rally in Barangay Tinag-an on Thursday afternoon, when a man suddenly fired at him, hitting him on the chest. His running mate and younger sister, Mariel Espinosa Marinay, and a girl were slightly injured.
At the Philippine National Police headquarters in Quezon City, PNP spokesperson Police Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo, said the seven officers were found at the compound where the suspected getaway vehicle used by the gunman proceeded after Espinosa was shot.
“We now have seven policemen under custody who are being investigated whether or not they have any involvement in the shooting of Mr. Espinosa,” Fajardo said at a press conference on Friday.
She said the police conducted a pursuit operation against a “vehicle of interest,” which allegedly left the site after the attack on Espinosa.
“It was immediately followed [by the police]. Upon entering the compound, the police officers were seen there,” she said.
According to Fajardo, the seven officers were wearing civilian clothes. Two of them are officials while the five others are noncommissioned officers, she said.
Two vehicles were seen inside the compound while several firearms were also discovered in the vehicles.
‘Persons of interest’
At a news conference early Friday afternoon at his residence in Albuera where he had asked to be moved from the private hospital in Ormoc, Espinosa identified five of the Ormoc police officers who were “apprehended” and whom he described as “persons of interest.”
The house where the officers were taken from belonged to an official of the Department of Public Works and Highways.
The Inquirer is withholding the identities of the officers as they had not been formally charged and had not issued any statement.
The bullet that slammed into Espinosa’s right chest exited through his right arm, which appeared swollen in a video taken while he was lying on his hospital bed in Ormoc.
At past midnight on Friday, he went live on Facebook to assure his supporters that he was not backing down from his bid for mayor, a position once held by his late father, Rolando Sr.
On Friday morning, Espinosa asked his doctors to discharge him from the hospital and to be brought back home to Albuera, about 28 kilometers from Ormoc, to recuperate.
“I’ve already lost trust in some members of the Ormoc police,” he said during the news conference.
Girl injured
A girl, who is the daughter of one of the candidates for councilor, was also injured in the attack, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether she was hit by a bullet or shards of unknown material, which caused the injuries on Espinosa’s sister.
Police Maj. Ana Armesa of the PNP-Eastern Visayas (PNP-8) said that the Ormoc police officers were apprehended in connection with the slay attempt on Espinosa. They are “restricted” to the Leyte Police Provincial Office, in Tacloban pending investigation.
In a statement, the PNP-8 said that the investigation was under way and it was working with other agencies to “ensure that the process remains fair and grounded in truth.”
Drug war ‘liquidators’
Espinosa alleged that the Ormoc police officers who were taken into custody were “liquidators” during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs.
He also didn’t discount the possibility that the slay attempt was politically motivated.
“I’m not pointing fingers at anyone specifically. Let our police do their job and investigate the crime properly,” Espinosa said.
He is running against reelectionist Mayor Sixto de la Victoria and Leyte Board Member Vincent Rama, brother-in-law of Ormoc City Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez.
‘Drug capital’
Espinosa’s father, who was arrested in August 2016, was killed in November that year by members of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detention Group in an alleged shootout while inside a jail cell in Baybay, Leyte, where he was being held on drug charges.
At that time, Duterte identified the mayor as a drug protector in Albuera, which was then deemed the “drug capital” of Eastern Visayas where his son was the biggest drug lord.
Espinosa had fled the country but was arrested in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Oct. 17, 2016. He was deported a month later.
The drug cases filed against him were eventually dismissed by regional trial courts (RTCs) in Makati, Manila and Baybay City for insufficiency of evidence.
Espinosa is still facing a money laundering case before a Pasay City court and two cases—for illegal drugs and firearms—which the Court of Appeals had ordered to be reopened in a Manila RTC.
Espinosa said he would request for additional security for him and his entire slate and would not mind if the Commission on Elections (Comelec) would place Albuera under its control.
He also asked President Marcos to ensure that any investigation on the incident would be impartial. “I hope there will be no whitewash and that all investigations will follow due process,” Espinosa said.
Local Comelec meeting
The Comelec condemned the attempt on Espinosa’s life, and called for swift action to ensure peaceful and orderly elections in Albuera on May 12.
Lawyer Ma. Krishna Athena Elardo, the Comelec Eastern Visayas legal officer, said a meeting with police and military officials was set on April 15 to tackle election-related security concerns, including the attack on Espinosa.
“We condemn the shooting incident involving mayoralty candidate Kerwin Espinosa as we are promoting peaceful and orderly elections in the region,” she said.
Albuera has been placed by Comelec under the “yellow” category, or an area of concern due to previous election-related incidents and the possible presence of private or partisan armed groups. —WITH A REPORT FROM NESTOR CORRALES
