‘Kerwin inclusion in WPP up to courts, not DOJ’

MANILA, Philippines - Senate Pro-Tempore Franklin Drilon said yesterday it should be the courts, not the Department of Justice (DOJ), that should determine whether alleged drug lord Kerwin Espinosa was qualified to be in the government’s witness protection program (WPP).

He said under the law, the justice secretary, in this case Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, is the one in charge of admitting criminal suspects to the WPP to have them become state witnesses based on certain standards.

“But given all the events that happened, questions are raised about the impartiality of the Secretary of Justice (Aguirre) as far as these issues are concerned. So to me, the best way to handle this is to let the court decide, whether or not Kerwin Espinosa will qualify as a state witness, because there are certain standards,” Drilon told reporters.

He said the courts are empowered to discharge an accused and convert the accused into a state witness.

Drilon said Aguirre’s credibility remains open to question as he has been among those spearheading the filing of various criminal and drug cases against Sen. Leila de Lima.

The latest one has Espinosa accusing De Lima of receiving at least P8 million from him to allegedly fund her senatorial campaign.

Meanwhile, senators expressed worry over the killing of Ferdinand Rondina, an alleged bagman of Espinosa, and raised questions on the capability of the Duterte administration to protect witnesses in its campaign against illegal drugs.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson said it is incumbent upon the Philippine National Police (PNP) to provide ample protection cover to witnesses whose testimonies are vital to the successful prosecution of cases against high profile and powerful drug suspects.

“If this situation remains uncorrected, it is the government itself that will feel the brunt of not successfully prosecuting illegal drugs cases,” Lacson said. 

Sen. Francis Escudero asked for a report from PNP chief Director General Roland dela Rosa on the police officers, led by Supt. Marvin Marcos, who were accused of executing Espinosa’s father, mayor Rolando Espinosa of Albuera, Leyte inside his jail cell last Nov. 5.

De Lima said the latest killing was not surprising as President Duterte “has admitted to killing suspects himself and has encouraged everyone else to do the same, without being held to account for either his words or actions.”

“We are already in a state not of lawlessness, but of a government and an administration that is not bound by laws and is therefore not accountable to anyone or liable for anything,” De Lima said.

“In this context, there is no sense in raising the issue of whether the police are liable for the killing of witnesses. What we have now is a death squad government that is not accountable to anyone or liable for anything. They can kill anyone with impunity, least of all criminal suspects or criminals turned witnesses,” she said.