The Department of Justice (DOJ) is considering filing perjury charges against drug lord Kerwin Espinosa after he recanted his testimony that linked opposition Senator Leila de Lima to the illegal drug trade.
In a message to reporters Friday, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he is discussing the matter with the panel of prosecutors, a day after Espinosa retracted his previous allegation that he had drug dealings with De Lima in the New Bilibid Prison through her personal driver Ronnie Dayan.
De Lima’s counsel and spokesman, Dino de Leon, told CNN Philippines they saw value in Espinosa’s reversal, and said they may use him as a witness for the defense.
“This testimony of Kerwin actually fits into the real picture. And the real picture is, the witnesses are under threat, under duress and they are being violently threatened, not only them, but their families,” De Leon told CNN.
De Lima said Espinosa’s confession demonstrated the lengths that President Rodrigo Duterte and his people have gone to fabricate testimony and evidence against her.
“As I have always been saying, all allegations against me invented by the Duterte machine of lies and fabrications would ultimately unravel,” she said.
Espinosa had earlier estified in Senate hearings that De Lima was part of the illegal drug trade as then Justice secretary during the Aquino administration – an accusation she has consistently denied.
In a counter-affidavit filed at the DOJ on April 28, Espinosa said he had no dealings with De Lima and emphasized that his previous sworn affidavits against the senator were not true.
The senator said she has always believed that no matter how much Duterte lies and uses false witnesses against her, the truth will still come out to set her free in the end.
“I have been languishing in jail for the past five years on the basis of testimonies of convicted criminals who, like Kerwin Espinosa, were used by the DOJ to manufacture lies about me and about crimes that I did not commit.
“As Duterte steps down from power, more of these convict-witnesses are only expected to come out and confess that they were intimidated, coerced, or bribed into making up the ridiculous and impossible story that I received money from the illegal drug trade,” she said.
“I also expect them to reveal the names of Duterte’s officials who participated in this gross frame-up, so I can also finally bring these people to account for what they have done to me,” she added.
In a separate statement published on Twitter, De Lima said Duterte’s lies are finally coming to an end as he nears the end of his presidency.
“Duterte and his minions used the whole might and abused the power of the government just to destroy and send me to prison. As their power comes to an end, so will their lies, and the truth shall finally set me free,” she said.
Responding to Espinosa’s apology, De Lima, in a separate tweet said she has already forgiven her.
This month, De Lima’s former aide and co-accused in one of two remaining cases, Dyan denied receiving and delivering drug money to De Lima a manifestation filed before the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court Branches 204 and 256.
The Palace played down Espinosa’s retraction, saying it would have no effect on pending cases against the senator.
“While Kerwin Espinosa appears to have recanted his allegations against Senator Leila de Lima, his recantation will not have any effect on the pending criminal cases against the lady senator,” acting presidential spokesman Martin Andanar said.
“We have to underscore what the prosecutor general said – Espinosa is not a state witness,” Andanar added.
In a counter-affidavit submitted before the Department of Justice on Thursday, Espinosa took back his claim that De Lima allowed the proliferation of illegal drugs in the New Bilibid Prison.
He added that he was threatened by the police to make up stories for fear of his life and of his family.
Human Rights Watch urged the government to release De Lima from detention.
“Kerwin Espinosa’s retraction of allegations he made against Senator Leila de Lima should end the senator’s five-year ordeal in police detention,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director, Human Rights Watch, in a statement.
“Authorities should release her immediately and dismiss the trumped-up charges that were the basis for her arrest in February 2017,” he said.
“Espinosa stated in a sworn affidavit that all his allegations against the senator – mainly, that she received money from drug lords when she was Justice secretary – are false and that his testimony implicating her was the result of ‘pressure, coercion, intimidation and serious threats to his life and family members from the police who instructed him to implicate the senator into the alleged drug trade’,” Robertson said.
“Espinosa’s revelation exposes how the Duterte administration manipulated the Philippines’ criminal justice system against a sitting senator who was critical of the ‘war on drugs’ and had sought the truth about thousands of killings,” he said.
“This should compel the international community to pursue accountability against President Duterte and those complicit in the ‘drug war’ violence,” Robertson also said.
Presidential candidate Senator Manny Pacquiao called for the immediate resolution of the criminal charges against De Lima, so that she may be set free if proven innocent.
He said the case has dragged on, with De Lima being denied her freedom for years.
Vice Presidential candidate Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said the government should immediately release De Lima.
“Now that Kerwin Espinosa recanted all his accusations against Senator Leila De Lima, Senator Leila should be freed now,” Pangilinan said.
Pangilinan pointed out that Espinosa’s confession proved that charges against De Lina were mere fabrications.
He described De Lima’s detention for more than five years as a “big slap” against justice.
De Lima’s legal counsel, Filibon Tacardon, said they have always believed that no matter the lies perpetrated by coerced witnesses, in the end, the truth will still come out.
He expressed hope that other witnesses will also come out and confess how they were intimidated, coerced, and bribed into making false testimonies against De Lima.