Espenido: Dela Rosa said 'dismantle Parojinog drug ops by all means necessary'

Police Colonel Jovie Espenido on Wednesday accused former police chief and now Senator Ronald dela Rosa of ordering him to kill suspected drug personalities, including Ozamiz Mayor Reynaldo “Aldong” Parojinog and his family.

He also claimed that Dela Rosa insinuated that he "neutralize" drug personalities in Albuera, Leyte where the mayor, Rolando Espinosa, also died during a police operation.

“Ang instruction lang na tulungan mo ako, Jovie, at saka si President Duterte, about this war against illegal drugs. So, dapat, galingan mo ha, ikaw ang i-assign ko as chief of police ng Albuera, so dapat mawala na yung mga drugs sa Albuera. “’Yun yung natandaan ko,” Espenido said during the House investigation on drug war deaths during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

“Ang police, isa lang ang word, general word na ibigay. Lahat [ng police], alam na namin ang isang meaning din. Pagsabi na mawala, kasali na ‘yung mamatay,” Espenido added.

Affidavit

In his affidavit submitted before the House probe, Espenido quoted PNP Chief dela Rosa saying that the “local drug kingpin was also tough so it required a tough officer like me to dismantle the Parojinog drug operations by all means necessary."

“In police language, it included neutralization or elimination of the target. Moments after my phone conversation with Chief Bato, he issued a formal order to cause my transfer to Ozamiz. It was President Rodrigo Duterte himself who announced in August 2016 that Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo "Aldong" Parojinog was included in his list of public officials involved in illegal drugs, in national television during one of his press briefings in Malacañang,” Espenido said in his affidavit.

Espenido said that when Duterte’s announcement was made, he was in a meeting with  Mayor Parojinog inside a Baptist church to inform them of his "mission" in Ozamiz and to give them a chance to voluntarily surrender.

Ultimately, Espenido said Mayor Parojinog did not turn himself in, leading to issuance of a search warrant on the residence and farm of Mayor Parojinog almost a year later.

“We enforced them through a simultaneous search around 2:00 AM of July 30, 2017, a Sunday. 16 people were killed in these police operations, including Mayor Parojinog and his wife,” Espenido said in his affidavit.

“Chief Bato and President Duterte arrived shortly thereafter to congratulate our unit for the successful raid. The Parojinogs had been neutralized. We were even awarded a plaque of recognition,” Espenido added.

'Neutralize'

In a message to GMA News Online, Dela Rosa denied Espenido's accusations. 

“Anong masama pala ‘to kung i-neutralize ang droga? You have to neutralize the drug problem. May sinabi ba akong patayin yung tao? Wala akong sinabing patayin ‘yung tao,” said the former PNP Chief.

(Is it bad on my part to order neutralization of the drug problem? Did I say something about killing people? I did not say he should kill people.)

“Gawin mo lahat ng legal na pamamaraan para mahinto ‘yung problema sa droga sa lugar mo. Kaya ka nga inassign dyan, para trabahuin mo ‘yung [pagpuksa ng] droga," he added. 

(Use all legal means to eradicate the drug problem, that is why he has been assigned there. To eradicate the drug problem.)

"Wala akong sinabi na inassign kita dyan para patayin mo lahat ng mga adik dyan, pusher dyan, wala naman akong sinabing ganon. Trabaho mo ‘yan, linisin mo yung kapaligiran mo.” 

(I did not tell him to kill all drug addicts, traffickers...I did not say that. It is your job to rid your area of illegal activities.)

Kerwin Espinosa

Espenido, meanwhile, also said that he believes that Dela Rosa is somehow protecting another drug suspect, Mayor Espinosa’s son Kerwin.

“I believe Chief Dela Rosa was involved in the dismissal of the cases that I built up against Kerwin Espinosa, including the burying of the cases that I was building against his police protectors or coddlers who have been receiving money from him," said Espenido.

"[Because] I personally reported to PNP Chief dela Rosa at his office in Camp Crame to submit my accomplishment report in my police operations in Albuera. In that meeting, however, he told me that Kerwin Espinosa had alleged that I was on the take from his group for P20,000 per month,” he added.

“I told him I was ready to resign if there was evidence that I received money from Kerwin as there is no truth as to this, and I was eventually cleared by Kerwin who said I was the only one who did not get money from him and his group in one of the Senate Hearings where he was invited as a resource speaker.” 

'Dismantle'

Former Duterte presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo also said that it remains clear that former President Duterte did not issue kill orders.

“Espenido is saying that the former President told him to clean the Albuera of drugs which means to dismantle the drug syndicate. He also said he understood the word mawala as including mamatay, he didn’t say pumatay,” Panelo said.

“It [just] means if their lives are endangered they can neutralize the suspect which is allowed by law under justifying  circumstances,” Panelo added.

Espenido was a controversial cop during the time of Duterte as he led major drug operations against big-time drug suspects and faced homicide charges. 

—VAL, GMA Integrated News