CIDG’s lone witness in applying for warrant vs Espinosa missing

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — The lone witness of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group presented during the hearing in the application of search warrant against Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. and Raul Yap was reported missing.

The witness had provided data to justify CIDG’s need to have the court issue the search warrants, which it later served against Espinosa and Yap at their detention cells at the Leyte Sub-Provincial Jail in Baybay City at dawn of November 5. The implementation of the warrants inside the jail however resulted in the deaths of the two inmates.

A reliable source told The Philippine Star and The Freeman that the witness—a former prisoner whose identity was temporarily withheld for security reasons—has been reported missing, while his family were also not found in their residence at an undisclosed barangay in Tacloban.

Sources also revealed that the testimonies of this witness could be very vital in finding out the real circumstances behind CIDG’s application for a search warrant, the implementation of which resulted in the deaths of Espinosa and Yap. 

Regional Trial Court (Basey, Samar) Judge Tarcelo Sabarre Jr., who issued the warrants, earlier clarified that the witness did not mention—during the hearing—that Yap was in possession of a short firearm, contrary to the claims by the CIDG men, as stated in their search warrant application.

But, after the serving of the warrants, the CIDG operatives recovered two short firearms—one from Espinosa and one from Yap. These, as evidences, were later submitted by the CIDG to Judge Sabarre of RTC in Basey Samar.

On November 7, Ferdinand Lavin, NBI spokesperson, confirmed that a separate probe on Espinosa’s killing was started, with the NBI-Region 8 heading it. NBI agents from its national office and forensic personnel, including a ballistician, were already in the region for the purpose.

NBI-8 Regional Director Jerry Abiera assured the public that there will be no whitewash in the investigation and that it will be fair. He noted that witnesses were very cooperative in the process of the investigation. He however refused to reveal the progress report until the entire probe is completed.

The scheduled arrival today of Kerwin Espinosa, son of the mayor and the suspected drug lord in Eastern Visayas, after he was arrested in Abu Dhabi, is expected that help fast track the investigation, according to Albuera Police chief, Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido. (FREEMAN)