TESTIFYING against her is the only way for the alleged drug lord Kerwin Espinosa can stay alive, Senator Leila de Lima said Friday.
In an ambush interview on Friday, De Lima said she would not be surprised if Espinosa links her to the illegal drug trade to avoid the fate of his father, who was shot dead in his jail cell by a police raiding team in the Baybay City provincial jail.
She said the killing of his father, Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa, was a warning to Kerwin that he should cooperate.
“He has no choice,” De Lima said.
“”I will no longer be surprised if his testimony will point to me. That would be the best way of staying alive,” the senator said.
She said the same thing happened to inmate Jaybee Sebastian when he was stabbed during a prison riot, as a warning that he should cooperate.
Sebastian, allegedly De Lima’s favored inmate, testified he raised campaign funds for her senatorial run in the last May elections.
De Lima has consistently denied any involvement in the illegal drug trade, and has accused the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte of fabricating evidence against her.
Earlier this week, she admitted to having a years-long affair with her driver-bodyguard Ronnie Dayan, who was tagged as a bagman that collected money from drug lords detained at the New Bilibid Prison.
Like Sebastian, De Lima said, Espinosa will probably make up stories to link her to the drug trade inside the NBP.
Told that Espinosa would be summoned before Senator Panfilo Lacson’s committee, De Lima said this was good only if he told the truth.
“That’s probably part of the deal. That’s why he was even fetched [from Abu Dhabi],” De Lima said.