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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Guevarra: DOJ may file perjury case against Kerwin Espinosa on recantation of testimonies

Guevarra: DOJ may file perjury case against Kerwin Espinosa on recantation of testimonies

Published Apr 29, 2022 10:45 am

Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra (2)

Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra on Friday, April 29, said he is considering the filing of a perjury case against self-confessed drug lord Rolan “Kerwin” E. Espinosa who recanted his testimonies on the alleged involvement of detained Sen. Leila M. De Lima on illegal drugs trading when she was secretary of justice.

“Making false statements under oath is a criminal offense,” Guevarra said.

Kerwin Espinosa

On Espinosa’s claim that he was coerced into giving his testimonies against De Lima, Guevarra said: “Of course he has to prove it. We will determine that when he faces perjury charges.”

But the secretary said he is not yet keen on investigating Espinosa’s allegations of being coerced by law enforcers.

He added that he is set to hold discussions with the DOJ’s panel of prosecutors “whether or not his (Espinosa’s) testimony is material to the prosecution’s cause.”

In his four-page counter-affidavit submitted to the DOJ, Espinosa said that “any and all of my statements given during the Senate hearings, or in the form of sworn written affidavits, against Senator De Lima are not true.”

“For this, undersigned apologizes to Senator De Lima,” he said.

He was referring to the testimonies he made during the Senate hearings held on Nov. 23, 2016 and Dec. 5, 2016 concerning the death of his father, Albuera Mayor Roland Espinosa Sr., who was allegedly killed by the police while in jail.

De Lima, who is currently detained at the Custodial Center of the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters in Camp Crame in Quezon City, is facing illegal drugs charges before the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court (RTC) over her alleged involvement in the narcotics trading in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

Espinosa, on the other hand, is facing multiple charges before various courts, and is undergoing preliminary investigation before the DOJ over complaints filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

He was transferred early this month of April to the detention facility of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Taguig City after being kicked out from the Witness Protection Program (WPP) for violations he committed.

In hi counter-affidavit, Espinosa said he “had no dealings with Sen. De Lima and I had not given her any money at any given time.”

“Any statements I made against the Senator are false and were the result of pressure, coercion, intimidation, and serious threats to my life and my family members from police who instructed me to implicate the Senator into the illegal drugs trade,” he said.

He denied “all the charges against me by the National Bureau of Investigation-Task Force Against Illegal Drugs (NBI-TFAID) on the basis of my extra-judicial confession during the hearings conducted on Nov. 23 and Dec. 5, 2016 by the Senate Joint Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs and Committee on Justice and Human Rights Inquiry and Investigation on the killing of Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr.”

He likewise denied the Dec. 14, 2016 extra-judicial confession (EJC) he made since “the same was not voluntarily executed by the undersigned and the contents thereof were not fully explained to me by a counsel of my own choice.”

“I was also misled by the police into signing the same due to verbal promise of dismissal of cases filed against me which promise turned out to be false,” he said.

DOJ’s Prosecutor General Benedicto A. Malcontento expressed confidence that what Espinosa did will not affect the drug charges against De Lima.

“Di naman namin ginamit as witness si Kerwin (We never used Kerwin as a witness),” Malcontento said.

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