“Sir, wag nyo akong planteran. Wala akong baril at patalim.”
These were supposedly the last words heard from Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa, seconds before he was killed in his detention cell in Baybay City in an alleged shootout.
He was making the request to operatives of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Region 8, who were serving a search warrrant at about 4:30 am last Saturday.
After the mayor made the plea, gun shots were heard.
This narration was given by Supt. Victor Ongkiko, chief of the PNP Region 8 Internal Affairs Service (IAS) who secured the testimony of the detainee in the jail adjacent to Espinosa’s cell.
Ongkiko testified at the ongoing hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Order chaired by Senator Panfilo Lacson.