Bato denies threatening Kerwin to link De Lima, Peter Lim to drug trade

Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa on Saturday denied threatening alleged drug lord Kerwin Espinosa to implicate former senator Leila de Lima and businessman Peter Lim to the illegal drug trade.

In a statement, Dela Rosa insisted that Espinosa was not a credible witness.

Speaking before the four House committees investigating extrajudicial killings, Espinosa on Friday accused Dela Rosa of pressuring him to link Lim and De Lima to the drug menace.

Dela Rosa said, "Why do I need to force him to implicate De Lima when PNP (Philippine National Police) was not a party in the case build up and the filing of drug cases against De Lima? It was entirely done by the DOJ (Department of Justice). Anong pakialam ko kay De Lima (What do I have to do with De Lima)?"

Espinosa said Dela Rosa spoke with him about the matter inside a sport utility vehicle in November 2016 upon his return to the Philippines.

Dela Rosa, then the PNP chief, allegedly threatened Espinosa to comply otherwise he would suffer the same fate of his father, the late Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa, who died while in prison.

Meanwhile, the senator also denied knowing about the alleged drug activities of Lim and former police official Vicente Loot until he was told about it by Espinosa himself.

"I had no idea about Peter Lim and General Loot's drug business. It was Kerwin Espinosa who volunteered that [information] to me when I asked him where did he get his supply of drugs. He answered me that sometimes he gets it from Peter Lim and sometimes from General Loot. I had no motive implicate them (especially) General Loot who is a PMAyer," he said.

Loot, an alumnus of Philippine Military Academy (PMA) like Dela Rosa, was among the so-called "narco-generals" tagged by then-President Rodrigo Duterte.

He later survived an ambush following his election as mayor of Daanbantayan in Cebu. In September 2019, Duterte indicated that he ordered the hit on Loot.

'Liar'

Dela Rosa called Espinosa a liar whose testimonies should not be taken as "gospel truth."

"No, [he is not a credible witness]! In the first place, he is a drug lord!" Dela Rosa said, adding that, "Granting na-dismiss' yung kaso niya, still, he remains to be a drug lord (Granting his case was dismissed, still, he remains to be a drug lord)!"

"Public knowledge naman sa Albuera na drug lord siya at 'yung tatay niya mismo umamin na matigas daw [ang] ulo ni Kerwin na gusto niya na huminto na sila sa drug business pero si Kerwin ayaw sumunod sa kanya," he added.

(It is public knowledge in Albuera that he is a drug lord and his father himself admitted that Kerwin was stubborn and that he wanted them to stop the drug business but Kerwin did not want to follow him.)

When they spoke

The senator said he only spoke with Espinosa after the latter asked if Police Lieutenant Colonel Jovie Espenido received money from him.

"Other than that, wala na kaming pinag-usapan. Paano ako mag-kwan pa ako na idiin si Peter Lim.... Anong makukuha ko doon? Meron namang imbestigador na may hawak sa kanya?" Dela Rosa said.

(Other than that, we didn't talk about anything else. How can I [act] to pin down Peter Lim... What would I gain out of that? There is an investigator handling him.)

For Dela Rosa, Espinosa's statements at the QuadComm hearing appeared to be rehearsed.

"Nakita mo nagsasalita siya halatang mine-memorize niya, 'di spontaneous ang pagsalita... halatang memorized, gusto talagang i-konek tayo diyan," he said.

(When he speaks it is obvious that he is memorizing, he's not spontaneous. It is apparent that it is memorized, he just wants to implicate me.)

Dela Rosa said the dismissal of a drug case against Espinosa last June was a "big question mark" for him, though he respects the decision of the court.

The policeman-turned-senator previously criticized the House of Representatives' probe into former President Rodrigo Duterte's alleged drug war executions.

The senator called the House probe a "fishing expedition" meant to destroy politicians loyal to Duterte ahead of the 2025 and 2028 elections.

Davao model

Meanwhile, Dela Rosa also said that he knows nothing about the Davao model of the drug war, or the alleged reward system for the killing of drug suspects.

"I don't know kung ano pinagsasabi ni Garma na Davao model na 'yan, mga taong 'yan 'di naman ako close sa mga tao na 'yan, 'di ko naman mga kabataan ko na close ko talaga. Ewan ko 'yang imbento nila na model 'yan. Kung Davao Model, 'yung Oplan Tokhang. Wala naman 'yan 'di naman 'yan member ng Davao City, paano niya masasabi na Davao Model na 'yan," he said in a radio interview.

(I don't know what Garma is saying, that Davao Model. I'm not close to those people, we're not close during our youth days. I don't know about that model they invented. If it's the Davao Model, it's the Oplan Tokhang. She is not a member of Davao City, how can she say that's a Davao Model?)

Former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Royina Garma told the House Quad Committee on Friday that the system involved three levels of payments and rewards.

The first level is for the death of a suspect, the second is the funding of planned operations (or COPLANS), and third is the refund of operational expenses. The cash reward was said to range from P20,000 to P1 million.

She also mentioned the names of Senator Christopher "Bong" Go and newly resigned National Police Commission Commissioner Edilberto Leonardo as among the personalities involved in the implementation of the campaign. — Sherylin Untalan and Jamil Santos/ VDV/VBL, GMA Integrated News