By Liza Soriano
MANILA — Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa dismissed Kerwin Espinosa’s claims, emphasizing that Espinosa cannot be considered a credible witness.
Dela Rosa made the statement after Espinosa accused the senator of threatening him to link former Senator Leila De Lima and businessman Peter Lim to the illegal drug trade during a hearing in the House of Representatives.
“Ang masasabi ko lang kay Kerwin Espinosa, sinungaling siya. Kung makapag-istorya siya ng gano’n, makapagsalita siya, akala mo kung sino siyang malinis. Bakit siya maggawa-gawa ng istorya? Samantalang noon ang bait-bait niya nu’ng nasa kustodiya namin,” 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?” he added.
The lawmaker also explained that he has no knowledge of the alleged drug business of Lim and retired police general Vicente Loot, who is his fellow Philippine Military Academy graduate.
“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 to implicate them, lalo na si General Loot who is a PMAyer,” he said.
Dela Rosa previously slammed the House of Representatives’ ongoing investigation into the killings related to the campaign against illegal drugs of the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
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