THE Internal Affairs Service of the Philippine National Police started on Friday its investigation of the 20 policemen, led by Superintendent Marvin Marcos, of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group who were tagged in the killing of Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. in Leyte last month.
“We had a preliminary conference,” said lawyer Shella Castillo, head of the IAS. “We will resume it on January 10 because there are a lot of documents of the prosecution and with the other parties and there are also lawyers,” Castillo said.
Castillo said the conference aims to determine the potential administrative and criminal liabilities of the 20 police officers, who were implicated in the killing of Espinosa who was shot dead inside the Leyte sub-provincial jail in Baybay City, also in Leyte.
Castillo said the IAS officially received the case last December 12 and she expects its resolution to come out by February. “For the interest of justice, we have to go with the due process,” she added.
Marcos and his comrades were present during the conference and were properly accompanied by lawyers.
The preliminary conference itself was cencerned mainly by the marking of evidence from both sides and stipulations of admissions of both parties to limit the issues to be tackled.
Castillo said that after the projected January 10 resumption, the pre-conference will be terminated and parties will be given 15 days each to submit their respective position papers. “Expect the resolution after the submission of their position papers,” Castillo said.
The Senate Committee on Public Order chaired by Senator Panfilo Lacson investigated the killing of Espinosa Sr. Suspected drug lord Kerwin Espinosa who appeared on the investigation of his father’s mysterious death branded the case as a “badly written script.”
The younger Espinosa, who was transferred to the National Bureau of Investigation on orders of a Leyte court, denied allegations by Albuera municipal police station head Chief Insp. Jovie Espenido that his affidavit, dragging several poloce officials in the illegal drug trade, was ready made.
Kerwin stressed that his affidavit was legally taken with lawyers from the Public Attorney’s Office and the proceedings were documented by audio and video recordings.
“Espenido alleged that my affidavit is ready made is absolutely false,” Espinosa said in his statement issued by her lawyer Lani Villarino.
Meanwhile, suspected “drug queen” Lovely Adam Impal, the alleged supplier of illegal drugs of Kerwin Espinosa was allowed to leave Camp Crame premises.
Senior Supt. Albert Ignatius Ferro, director of the PNP-AIDG, said Impal was permitted to leave Camp Crame last week days after she voluntarily yielded to PNP Director General Ronald dela Rosa last December 5.
“She is not here [Camp Crame]any more, and what we know is that she is with her family right now,” said Ferro.
“Unfortunately, she has no warrant of arrest, there was no case filed against her so we have no authority or legal basis to detain her and we respect her decision to surrender,” added Ferro.
Impal was tagged by Rolando Espinosa Jr., alias Kerwin, as among his suppliers of illegal drugs. Espinosa said that he was introduced to Impal by slain drug lord Jeffrey Diaz, alias Jaguar.