DOJ Reverses Ruling, Indicts Kerwin Espinosa, Co on Drug Raps

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday reversed its earlier ruling and indicted self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa and convicted druglord Peter Co, and several others on the drug complaint filed by Philippine National Police (PNP).

In a resolution, the prosecution panel, composed of Senior Assistant State Prosecutors Juan Pedro Navera, Anna Noreen Devanadera and Prosecution Attorney Herbert Calvin Abugan, found sufficient the evidence to charge Espinosa, Co, Lovely Imperial and Ruel Malindagan for violation of Section 26 (B) in relation to Section 5, Article II of Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Acts of 2002.

“The panel explained that under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading is an offense distinct from drug trading. It clarified that the agreement to trade in drugs is the gravamen (most serious part) of such an offense. The drugs themselves as corpus delicti of the drug trading is not necessary under Section 28 (B) of the law,” read the resolution approved by Acting Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon.

Navera said the panel gave weight to the testimonies of Adorco, who identified Espinosa, Co, Impal and Malindagan as his cohorts to charge them with conspiracy to commit illegal drug trade.

The panel also considered Espinosa’s confession, admitting that he traded in drugs in Regions 7.

“Espinosa’s confession appears in the transcript of stenographic notes on the legislative investigation of the Senate Committees on Justice and Public Order,” the panel pointed out.

In his testimony, Marcelo Adorco, Espinosa’s driver, claimed businessman Peter Lim, another respondent in the drug case, had supplied narcotics in “staggering amounts” to Espinosa for more than two years.

He said one such transaction involved the delivery of 50 kilos of shabu which Lim personally handed to Espinosa at the parking lot of Cash & Carry supermarket in Makati City on June 7, 2015.

Lim filed a motion to have a separate preliminary investigation regarding the drug case against him.

The complaint was filed by the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group. It was junked on Dec. 20, 2017 by the department, then led by Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre, but later reinstated.

“In our resolution, which speaks for itself, we explained that the gravamen of the offense in conspiracy is the conspiracy itself– the agreement to engage in illegal drug trade. So there’s really no need to present the drug itself and this has been explained by the Supreme Court…so we just took it from there based on the prevailing doctrine regarding the offense of conspiracy,” Navera told reporters.

Fadullon echoed the panel’s decision to indict the respondents based on the additional pieces of evidence, including the transcript of stenographic where Espinosa was invited during a Senate hearing on illegal drugs.

The DOJ is set to file the case before the Regional Trial Court of Makati City on Friday.

The DOJ also dismissed the drug charges against three respondents –Max Miro, Nestor “Jun” Pepito, and Rowen Reyes Secretaria–on account of their deaths. (PNA)