ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Siya talaga ang nag-utos': Espinosa claims it was Duterte who ordered killing of mayor-dad 

'Siya talaga ang nag-utos': Espinosa claims it was Duterte who ordered killing of mayor-dad 

Published Oct 11, 2024 11:36 am

At A Glance

  • Rolan "Kerwin" Espinosa told the House quad-committee (quad-comm) Friday, Oct. 11 that he believes the order to kill his father, the late Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa, back in 2016 came from then-president Rodrigo Duterte. 

20241011_171829.jpgKerwin Espinosa (left), former president Rodrigo Duterte (Speaker's office, Malacañang photo)



Rolan "Kerwin" Espinosa told the House quad-committee (quad-comm) Friday, Oct. 11 that he believes the order to kill his father, the late Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa, back in 2016 came from then-president Rodrigo Duterte.

During the eighth iteration of the quad-comm hearing Friday, Espinosa publicly addressed for the first time in years his feelings surrounding his father's death amid the previous Duterte administration's aggressive war on drugs.

Mayor Espinosa, whose name appeared on Duterte’s dreaded "narco-list", was killed inside his jail cell on Nov. 5, 2016, by police officers who served a search warrant.

"Tayong mga Pilipino, nakita natin sa TV na ang dating presidente nagsasabi na patayin niya lahat ng mga narco-list. So pagka-intindi ko, siya talaga ang nag-utos na patayin ang papa ko," Espinosa said as he was interpellated by quad-comm co-chairman Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido "Benny" Abante Jr.

(We Filipinos, we saw it on TV that the former president would say that he would kill everybody on the narco-list. So from my understanding, he's really the one who ordered to kill my father.)

"So naniniwala ka na ang dating pangulo ang nag-utos na ipapatay ang iyong tatay (So you really believe the former president ordered the killing of your father)?" Abante asked Espinosa.

"Opo (Yes) Mr. Chair," answered the witness.

To this, Abante commented tongue-in-cheek that pro-Duterte Internet trolls are sure to target them the next day.

"OK lang ‘yon, basta ang sa atin, ang katotohanan lang, at di naman bata ang lahat ng mga Pilipino na naniwala sa scenario nila, Mr. Chair," replied Espinosa.

(That's OK, for us we're just after the truth, and not all Filipinos are children to believe their scenario.)

Not politically-motivated

During the hearing, Santa Rosa City lone district Rep. Dan Fernandez wondered out loud whether or not Espinosa's appearance and testimony before the panel was politically-motivated.

This, after Fernandez, another quad-comm co-chairman, asked and confirmed from Espinosa that he filed a certificate of candidacy (COC) for the mayoralty post in Albuera in the upcoming May 2025 elections.

“Hustisya po para sa papa ko, kaya kong talikuran ‘yang pulitika (I want justice for my father, I can turn my back on politics),” Espinosa told Fernandez.

To prove this, Espinosa expressed to the quad-comm his willingness to withdraw his candidacy to focus on seeking justice for his father.

“Hindi mo kami masisisi kung mag-iisip kami na may halong pulitika ang ginagawa mo. But if you withdraw, baka ako mismo maniwala sa sinasabi mo,” Fernandez said.

(You cannot blame us if we think that what you're doing has something to do with politics. But if you withdraw, you might be able to convince me otherwise.)

Zambales 1st district Rep. Jay Khonghun also raised concerns about the timing of Espinosa’s testimony, given the fast-approaching elections.

“Bakit niyo po naisipan na ngayon lumabas at magsabi ng katotohanan lalo na ngayong panahon ng eleksyon? Baka isipin na ginagawa niyo ito para sa election campaign o media mileage,” Khonghun said.

(Why did you decide on surfacing and telling the truth especially during this election season? People might think that you're doing it for the election campaign or media mileage.)

Espinosa stressed that his decision to come forward was driven by his pursuit of justice, not politics.

“Napanood ko, marami nang lumutang na mga biktima sa EJK na marami nang naglakas na loob na isiniwalat ang mga hinanaing nila sa pangyayari ng patayan sa ating bansa sa EJK. ‘Yun ang nag-udyok sa akin kung bakit ako lumutang dito sa quad-comm, walang halong pulitika po ito,” he explained.

(I watched it, a lot of the relatives of the victims of EJK have surfaced and a lot of people have shown the courage to condemn the EJKs in our country. That's what urged me to surface here in this quad-comm, there are no politics involved here.)

Related Tags

Kerwin Espinosa Rodrigo Duterte quad-committee Rolando Espinosa
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.