Koko eyes reopening Senate probe on Espinosa slay

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Wednesday said he is considering reopening the Senate probe into the killing of Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa, who died in government custody.

Pimentel said the Senate might reopen the hearing after the Justice department decided to downgrade to homicide the cases filed against police officers accused of killing Espinosa.

“Sa tingin ko ang the best way for the Senate to be involved is to reopen the hearing and request for copies of the counter-affidavits or whatever other papers that the respondents filed. And then ask the DOJ – the panel which handled the preliminary investigation on what convinced them, or what moved them to change their mind that the murder was not committed but instead homicide,” Pimentel said in a recorded interview.

“Kasi, in fairness to everybody, we had hearings here in the Senate... But, of course, a preliminary investigation follows a different procedure, submission of counter-affidavits. So I think the best way is to reopen the hearing and then require the submission of these counter-affidavits so that the senators will have the TSN, the transcript and also the counter-affidavits before them,” he added.

The Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs chaired by Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson led the inquiry into the killing of Espinosa in 2016. The mayor, who was detained on drug and firearms cases, was killed in his cell while police officers were trying to serve a search warrant.

Last May 29, the DOJ issued a ruling amending the complaint against the respondents. This was followed by the filing of a motion before the Baybay City Regional Trial Court Branch 14 on June 6 by Leyte prosecutors informing it of the department’s decision to prosecute the respondents for homicide.

The DOJ ruling was released after Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Region 8 officers asked the department to overturn the resolution of a five-member panel that led to the respondents’ indictment and arrest.

“So if we believe that there’s something fishy that happened here, some corrupt practice happened here, then malalagot sila sa blue ribbon committee,” Pimentel said, referring to the Senate Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations.

Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero said Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II should answer for the ruling since he has command responsibility within the Justice department and has the power to approve or reject the resolution downgrading the charges.

“Hindi man dumaan man sa kanya, wala mang umapela sa kanya, sana tiniyak n’ya na tama ‘yung ginawa ng kanyang mga subordinates,” Escudero said.

'CA is also an option'

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, also a former Justice secretary, said a petition can be filed before the Court of Appeals to question the recent ruling of the DOJ.  He also said the Senate can be the co-intervener since it acted on Espinosa’s case before.

"Considering the overwhelming evidence against the accused, the families of the offended parties can question before the Court of Appeals the decision of the DOJ and the Regional Trial Court to charge the accused with the lesser offense of homicide on the ground of grave abuse of discretion," Drilon said.

"The Senate has a stake in this case. The Senate unanimously took the position that Mayor Espinosa was murdered as he was killed with evident premeditation and abuse of authority," he said.