PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte admitted Tuesday he made a mistake linking former Pangasinan governor Amado Espino Jr. and two other provincial officials to the illegal drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison.
Duterte said he found gaps in the intelligence information linking the incumbent Pangasinan representative Espino, provincial administrator Rafael Baraan and provincial board member Raul Sison to the drug operations inside the national penitentiary.
“In so far as the drugs, I think that somehow we were negligent in counter-checking the first report. To Espino, Sison and the brother of Baraan, not the undersecretary [because he was really involved there], I would like to apologize to you publicly,” Duterte said during a visit to a shabu laboratory in Arayat, Pampanga.
“I’ll take the responsibility… When I commit mistake, it comes from the heart. I am very sorry.”
Duterte said this did not mean Espino was off the hook for accusations that he allowed black sand mining in his province.
The Sandiganbayan Sixth Division had already ordered a 90-day suspension against Espino, who currently faces graft charges for allegedly issuing permits to two companies to conduct soil remediation and magnetite extraction in Lingayen without being registered with the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board.
Duterte earlier tagged the three officials, along with his nemesis Senator Leila de Lima, her former driver Ronnie Dayan, former Justice undersecretary Francis Baraan and former Bureau of Corrections chief Franklin Bucayu in the so-called “Muntinlupa connection,” the syndicate which allegedly condoned illegal drug transactions happening inside the NBP.
“I had it [the report] validated four times. I was really checking, but there seems to be a gap that cannot be explained,” Duterte said.
In the same media interview, Duterte said the shabu laboratory that he visited in Lacquios, Arayat in Pampanga was connected to the drug lords inside the NBP.
Duterte did not reveal more details about the shabu laboratory allegedly owned by a certain “Sunday Chua,” except that it could produce 400 kilos of shabu every day.
Personnel from the Bureau of Fire Protection and the local government accidentally discovered the shabu laboratory during fire safety and sanitary inspections at the piggery located at the foot of Mt. Arayat.
Espino said he was relieved by Duterte’s apology.
“I am humbled by the pronouncement of the President today on clearing my involvement on the alleged drug matrix released last Aug. 25, 2016,” Espino said in a statement issued to House media.
Espino said President Duterte’s apology was an affirmation that he had nothing to do at all with illegal drugs.
“I kept my silence for the past three weeks as I know beyond reasonable doubt that I am not guilty of this allegation,” he said.
Espino expressed gratitude to President Duterte for clearing his name.