Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa has vowed to the public that no whitewashing on police investigations will occur over the killing of Albuera city Mayor Rolando Espinosa in his detention facility.
Dela Rosa, who attended Senator Manny Pacquiao’s fight in Las Vegas on Saturday, gave out an immediate order to conduct “impartial and independent” investigations after being informed on the alleged shootout with operatives of the provincial unit of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-Northern Leyte, which led to the death of Espinosa.
The alleged shootout occurred when the policemen were serving search warrants inside the Baybay, Leyte Sub-Provincial Jail just after 4 a.m. which killed Espinosa and Raul Yap, another drug suspect.
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Dela Rosa ordered the CIDG’s mother unit in Camp Crame, the Police Regional Office (PRO) 8 and Internal Affairs Services (IAS) to run independent investigations with the CIDG-Northern Leyte team, headed by Chief Inspector Leo Laraga, as the subject.
The investigators will also look into reports that the killing of Mayor Espinosa was done in order to discourage his son, Kerwin Espinosa, from testifying against police officials who had allegedly received drug and gambling money.
Dela Rosa also plans to look into the connection between the killings of Mayor Espinosa and Edgar Allan Alvarez, who was killed last August and is said to be Kerwin’s drug source.
Reports add that the provincial jail was surrounded by CCTV cameras but the CIDG operatives allegedly took the hard drive containing its footages. However, Laraga has already denied this allegation and is confident everyone involved will be cleared from all speculations.
Other than the PNP, separate investigations will also be held by the Senate, Congress and Human Rights Commission.
Senator Panfilo Lacson had expressed, “Offhand, I can smell EJK and I base my conclusion on the circumstances that surround the killing.”
Senator Richards Gordon has also express his worry stating that, “Espinosa’s killing was a dagger in the heart of the criminal justice system as it appears that even those who are in custody of the law are no longer safe.”
Sources: (gmanetwork.com)
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