Arraignment: Mayor Espinosa pleads ‘not guilty’

BAYBAY CITY, Philippines — Detained Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. yesterday entered a plea of “not guilty” during his arraignment at the Regional Trial Court in Baybay City for charges of illegal possession of firearms and illegal drugs trade.

The cases were filed by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Leyte Provincial Police Office (LPPO) following a raid in the mayor’s house at Sitio Tinago, Barangay Binulho in Albuera town last August, which resulted to the recovery of P88-million worth of illegal drugs, firearms and explosives.

Espinosa, in handcuffs, arrived in court heavily guarded by policemen and provincial jail guards and accompanied by his wife and children. He looked tensed and uneasy while being assisted by the authorities in getting inside the court.

The mayor, with his Cebu City-based lawyer Laylanie Villarino, consistently refused to give statement to the media since his arrest in Albuera and detention at the Leyte Sub-Provincial Jail (LSPJ) in Baybay City last week.

The embattled mayor is also facing murder charges before the Ormoc City Prosecutor’s Office for allegedly masterminding the killing incidents during the May election period. He had denied these charges.

Albuera Police chief, Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido yesterday said that, after the arraignment, the court had scheduled another hearing on the defense’s motion for the mayor to be transferred from the LSPJ back into custody of the Albuera Police.

Leyte Sub-Provincial Jail Warden Homobono Bardillpon, for his part, told The Freeman that the facility can accommodate the mayor in a separate detention cell inside the building, which he said has still 16 vacant cells.

The jail has the capacity of 1,000 inmates, but its present population is only 520, Bardillon said, adding that he can aver that it is a more secure facility than others in the province.

“Well, it is now up to RTC Judge Carlos Arguilles to determine the security and safety of the mayor,” Bardillon said. “The LPPO had recently deployed seven policemen to augment the 33 jail guards in the sub-provincial jail that are securing the inmates now in their custody,” he added. (FREEMAN)