A clear message
The message couldn't be any clearer. If your name is on the government or police list of those involved in the illegal drug trade, you're as good as dead-even if you're already in jail. Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. was killed in his jail cell after an alleged "shootout" with police serving a search warrant at 4 in the morning. Just how urgent was it to serve the search warrant at that hour? They couldn't wait until morning when they can get more people to back them, maybe even invite the media?
According to the police, they went to the jail where Espinosa was being held, to serve a search warrant after getting a tip that the mayor was conducting drug operations there. Again, that couldn't wait until morning, when it is much easier to do a search? And was the search warrant really needed for a person already in jail? During the numerous Oplan Galugad conducted at the New Bilibid Prison, did the police have search warrants with them? Eventually the search supposedly yielded sachets of shabu and some firearms. No surprises there. The search just had to bear fruit, right? What is surprising is the CCTV supposedly covering the jail could not be found. Of course.
It will be recalled that after Mayor Espinosa's name came up on President Duterte's drug list, he surrendered to PNP Chief Gen. Dela Rosa, who even allowed him to temporarily stay at his official residence in Camp Crame. He was then released, then arrested after cases were finally filed against him. He was going to cooperate with authorities, offering to name individuals in a so-called "blue book," comprising of some police officers, government official, and even a senator. Was this the reason he just had to be silenced? So he could not identify these individuals? All the more reason PNP Chief Gen. Dela Rosa should look into his own organization for the criminals he supposedly hates so much. I guess when he gets back from Las Vegas, after Sen. Pacquiao's fight.
His son, Kerwin Espinosa, was recently arrested in Abu Dhabi, after going into hiding days after his and his father's name were revealed on the list. He has not yet been brought back into the country. Knowing that his father was killed while in custody, I'm pretty sure he believes he would suffer the same fate once he steps back into Philippine soil. Should he just divulge everything he knows, while he is still in Abu Dhabi, in relative safety from those wanting to silence him as well?
Is there any more question that extrajudicial killings are occurring unabated, some perpetrated by the police? The case of Zenaida Luz once again comes to mind. Why did the two policemen kill her? Was she on to them? With killings being the norm, even accepted, every killing can easily be attributed to Duterte's drug war. How trustworthy is the PNP today? I'm sure no tears will be shed for Espinosa's death, especially by this administration. An investigation, however helpful that will be, will not stop the killings. Even if senators are now bringing back the issue they practically dismissed, calling the incident a "slap in the face of Philippine justice system," so what? Even if the police version reeks of a really bad, rehashed script, the killings will go on because of the tacit approval of the highest official in the land.
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