Self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa retracts allegations vs Sen. Leila De Lima
Self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa has recanted his previous allegations of dealings with Senator Leila De Lima, saying his previous testimonies were due to threats by the police.
Espinosa, who was among the witnesses the government presented against De Lima, renounced his past statement in a counter-affidavit filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ), where he said he was "coerced, pressured, intimidated, and seriously threatened by the police" to cooperate.
"He had no other option but to invent stories for fear of his life and of his family since his father, then-Mayor Rolando Espinosa, Sr., was killed on November 5, 2016 or just 18 days prior to the Senate hearing," the document said. Espinosa Sr. was shot dead by police in his jail cell after he reportedly resisted authorities, or "nanlaban" as the popular catch-all explanation was then used in other similar instances. Prior to his death, Espinosa Sr. was also included a list of President Rodrigo Duterte of government officials linked to the illegal drug trade.
In November 2016, Espinosa stated before the Senate that he gave De Lima some P8 million for her senatorial campaign through her former driver Ronnie Dayan.
The senator, a vocal critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, has been detained since February 2017 over illegal drug charges.
Kerwin Espinosa's counter-affidavit claimed that the police "instructed him to implicate" the senator into the illegal drug trade.
"Any and all of his statements given during the Senate hearings, or in the form of sworn written affidavits, against Sen. De Lima are not true. He has no dealings with De Lima and has not given her any money at any given time," the counter-affidavit said.
Espinosa also extended his apologies to the detained senator.
De Lima is currently seeking reelection in the upcoming national polls.
The counter-affidavit was submitted in response to drug complaints charged against Espinosa by the National Bureau of Investigation-Task Force Against Illegal Drugs because of his 2016 Senate hearing confessions.
Espinosa, who is no longer under DOJ's witness protection program, is currently in BJMP Bicutan.