Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 14) — A Leyte court on Tuesday granted the bail application of self-confessed drug lord Rolan “Kerwin” Espinosa and four other co-accused in illegal drug trading case.
In a resolution obtained by CNN Philippines from Espinosa’s lawyer Raymund Palad, the Baybay Regional Trial Court said it granted bail to Espinosa, Alfred Batistis, Bryan Anthony Zaldivar, Jose Antipuesto, and Marcelo Adorco due to the “failure of the prosecution to prove that evidence of guilt against them is strong.”
Espinosa and his co-accused were charged with violation of Section 26 (B) in relation to Section 5, Article II of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
In 2017, Espinosa admitted in a Senate probe that he gave drug payoffs to former officials of the Philippine National Police and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in exchange for the protection of his illegal drug trade in Eastern Visayas.
The court, however, said the confession is “not sufficient ground for conviction” due to “the absence of corpus delicti,” which means the crime must be proven to have occurred before Espinosa could be convicted or the evidence be deemed as strong.
“There were no eyewitnesses in the commission of the crime that would positively identify Espinosa and his co-accused of having committed the crime charged,” the court added.
The court also dismissed the drug case against his father, former Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa who was killed in a drug raid inside his jail cell on Nov. 5, 2016.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte said Mayor Espinosa and his son were included in the list of drug lords and traffickers during the height of the war on drugs
READ: Leyte mayor surrenders for fear for his life, heeds Duterte’s call against drugs
In 2021, the Makati City RTC Branch 64 cleared the younger Espinosa of two of his four drug trafficking charges due to lack of evidence.
Last June 8, Espinosa and Adorco were also acquitted by Makati City RTC Branch 65. The court said prosecutors failed to provide enough evidence against them.
Six years after testifying against detained former Senator Leila De Lima, Espinosa in 2022 retracted his allegations on her supposed involvement in the illegal drug trade, saying he invented stories of their dealings because police threatened him.
The Muntinlupa court recently denied De Lima’s application for bail in her third and last drug case. She was acquitted in two drug cases.
