Mayor “resisted” cops serving warrant: Mayor “resisted” cops serving warrant

CEBU, Philippines - Detained Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. and Raul Yap, a native of Albuera who was also facing drug charges, were killed inside their cells at the Leyte Sub-Provincial Jail in Baybay City past 4 a.m. yesterday after allegedly shooting at policemen who came to serve a search warrant.

The serving of the search warrant – reportedly issued by Executive Judge Tarcelo Sabarre of the Regional Trial Court in Basey, Samar – was carried out by at least 15 Criminal Investigation and Detection Group personnel, led by their team leader Chief Inspector Leo Larraga, who were augmented by Maritime Police.

However, Espinosa and Yap allegedly shot at policemen forcing them to fire. Police said a Super .38 cal. pistol was recovered from the mayor while a .45 cal. pistol and drugs were recovered from Yap.

The warrant was for firearms and drugs, allegedly kept inside the cells of Espinosa and Yap. A tipster allegedly informed the police of the mayor's gun, which is why they applied for a search warrant in court.

Executed?

However, a reliable source close to the CIDG said the raiding team was also accompanied by alleged members of a private armed group from a government official who was among those revealed by the mayor to be involved in the drug trade of his son, Kerwin Espinosa.

A trustee inmate also said he saw the mayor still sleeping inside Cell No. 1 inside around 4 a.m. yesterday, when the operatives entered the jail.

The inmate, who requested not to be identified, said that shortly after the CIDG operatives entered the cell where the mayor was locked, he heard the Espinosa asking "unsa ni sir?" and then five gunshots were heard.

"Pinapasok na kami lahat sa aming mga selda, at narinig uli ang dalawang putukan, wala na kami nagawa kundi ang nalaman na namin na itinumba na pala ang dalawa na ka-inmate namin na si Mayor Espinosa at Raul Yap," he told The FREEMAN in a phone interview.

Another inmate said there was a policeman detailed inside the jail to guard Mayor Espinosa due to earlier reports of threats to his life. He also said the awakened mayor even raised his hands when the operatives entered his cell. When pressed for further details he declined to provide more.

Legitimate operation

However, CIDG-8 Regional Director Chief Superintendent Marvin Marcos said there was a shootout when the mayor and Yap resisted the search and fired shots at the operatives, who were left with no other choice but to fire back.

"It was a legitimate operation as ordered by the court, for a firearm in possession by Espinosa be recovered and illegal drugs from Yap, aside from the short firearm seized from his cell," Marcos said.

There were reports from police authorities that the raiding team was initially barred by jail guards from entering the compound but they eventually gained entrance using bolt cutters and rushed directly into the cells where Espinosa was detained to serve the warrant. These reports are still under investigation.

Senior Superintendent Franc Simborio, director of the Leyte Police Provincial Office, said that he already ordered the Baybay City Police to investigate the incident and on how Espinosa and Yap were able to have guns, and even drugs (in the case of Yap), in their cells.

"Jail guards and jail officials will of course be the main subject of the investigation so that whoever are responsible should face administrative and criminal consequences," Simborio said.

The Leyte Sub-Provincial Jail in Baybay City is run by the Leyte provincial government and not by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. However, Simborio dismissed speculations the mayor was executed, considering that the issuance of the search warrant underwent legal procedures, as well as its subsequent implementation.

Mayor Espinosa and his associates in the drug trade earlier named top government officials in Leyte including Senator Leila de Lima, several officials of the PNP and those assigned in the CIDG, prosecutors and media personalities. Some of them were already charged with drug cases recently filed at either the Ombudsman and the Regional Internal Affairs Service of the Police Regional Office-8.

A prosecutor, who asked not to be named, said that even without Espinosa as a witness against the accused government and police officials and the journalists, the mayor's affidavits had been corroborated by a number of witnesses who were part of the Kerwin Espinosa drug ring in Leyte, they are detained in other jails.

PRO-8 Regional Director Chief Superintendent Elmer Beltejar also said the deaths of Espinosa and Yap were the results of the implementation of a simple and ordinary police operation of serving a warrant.

"The local police of the PRO-8 have nothing to do with the said operations enforced by the CIDG," said Beltejar. However, he added that the police earlier inspected the Leyte Provincial Jail main facility in Palo, Leyte, for possible transfer of the mayor, who petitioned the court in Baybay that he be transferred to a safer jail because his life was in danger inside the sub-provincial jail in Baybay.

Another source, who asked not to be named for security reasons, also said a week before yesterday, personnel of the Baybay jail searched the cell of Espinosa, due to reports that he might be hiding some contraband inside. They reportedly found no guns but only a cellular phone that the mayor allegedly borrowed from an inmate of the cell where Yap was detained.

Beltejar was dismayed that the supposed plan of the police to move Espinosa to a safer jail did not materialize. Now he expressed determination to have a more secure plan to assure the safety of the life of Kerwin who was already arrested in Dubai.

"Well what has happened to his father will always be lessons learned for the police, to enable them to give more security like Mayor Espinosa who was a high-profile inmate," Beltejar added.

Meanwhile, the family of the mayor is now seeking justice and appealed to the Commission on Human Rights to investigate the incident.

"The worries and fears that we have before already came into final realization," they said.

Marical, the daughter of the mayor, was very emotional when she claimed that her father has no gun in his cell, contrary to what the CIDG said.

"Saan na kami hihingi ng hustisya, kami din ay nanganganib na ang buhay namin?" she said.

Mayor Espinosa was arrested on September 6 for illegal possession of firearms and explosives, and illegal drugs in his house. He was first under custody of the Albuera Police and then moved to the sub-provincial jail in Baybay.

After his arraignment at the Baybay City court, Espinosa's lawyer filed an urgent motion appealing that the mayor be returned to the Albuera Police Station where he said the mayor was safer in the hands of Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido, chief of the town's police station. (FREEMAN)