Bato: Espenido recruited to discredit Duterte drug war

MANILA, Philippines —  Some ranking officials have “recruited” police Lt. Col. Jovie Espenido as part of their “game plan” to make him discredit the drug war in the previous administration and convince him to testify against former president Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC), Sen. Ronald dela Rosa said yesterday.

“That’s their game plan. Their game plan is to use in the ICC whatever comes out of that hearing,” Dela Rosa said over TV5 Radyo 5, referring to Espenido’s testimony on Wednesday before the House quad committee.

Congressmen, however, denied Dela Rosa’s accusation, saying they would not allow the credibility of the probe panel to be compromised.

The quad committee comprises the four panels jointly hearing the possible connection among Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO), extrajudicial killings and human trafficking. Rep. Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte is overall committee chair.

In his testimony, Espenido
confirmed that a reward and quota system in the Duterte administration’s war on drugs explained the rampant abuses by policemen in the enforcement of the drug war. Dela Rosa was one of those indicted by the ICC for the thousands of drug-related killings during the Duterte administration.

“There were people who recruited them (Espenido and others) to make statements, affidavits like this. We know it. He could not have said those things if nobody had recruited him, he could not have come without being invited,” Dela Rosa said.

Dela Rosa noted that Speaker Martin Romualdez had tried but failed to recruit Maj. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr., chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Northern Luzon.

The senator said Caramat was even offered the top PNP post if he would agree to testify against Duterte.

After refusing to testify against Duterte, Caramat was removed as chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, a major position in the PNP, Dela Rosa said.

Aside from Romualdez, former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, House appropriation committee chairman Rep. Zaldy Co and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency chief Ricardo de Leon had also tried to convince Caramat to speak against the former