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BY LUIS BUENAFLOR JR.
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Le affair Espinosa and Odicta
ACCORDING to a police incident report: “Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. was killed in a ‘fire fight’ after allegedly resisting arrest at the Baybay, Leyte Sub-Provincial Jail early Saturday morning.
“A fire fight between Espinosa and Raul Yap and the operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Northern Leyte (CIDG8) resulted in the deaths of the two detainees.”
Albuera, Leyte police chief Juvy Espinido said “CIDG operatives went to the prison to serve a search warrant amid an allegation that the mayor illegally possessed firearms, when the two allegedly resisted, Espinosa and Yap were killed at past 4 a.m.”
Meanwhile, three months ago alleged Iloilo drug lord Melvin Odicta Sr. and his wife Meriam were shot dead at around 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 29, 2016 at the Caticlan Jetty Port in Aklan.
According to Aklan police provincial director Senior Superintendent John Jamili, “the Odictas were onboard a 2Go ro-ro from Batangas to Caticlan Port, when two unidentified assailants shot the couple dead upon arriving.”
These two gruesome murders are seemingly unrelated as they happened hundreds of kilometers and three months apart. Yet they have one common denominator: all four dead bodies are involved in the illegal drugs trade.
Not only that, Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. was in possession of an important information that links top government officials to the illegal drug trade. He has also executed an affidavit naming these top government officials.
Likewise, the Odicta couple Melvin Sr. and Meriam just came from a meeting with the Department of the Interior and Local Government secretary Ismael Sueno and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) officials in Camp Crame and were said to also possess information or a matrix that identifies top government officials involved in the illegal drug trade.
Coincidence, a simple twist of fate maybe, but the circumstances surrounding the incidents are just too obvious to ignore.
The supposedly matrix of the Odictas were never seen in public. I supposed that and all the information they possessed implicating anyone were buried with them in their graves. Any sensible person would see that the death and silence of the Odictas is to the disadvantage of the government but to the benefit of whoever had them eliminated.
It is a different story altogether with Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. as his affidavit naming top government officials involved in the illegal drug trade was made public. And here are the names in that affidavit:
According to the affidavit of Mayor Espinosa, the protectors of the illegal drug trade based on his personal knowledge are: Former Department of Justice secretary and now senator Leila de Lima, General Dolina, General Loot, General Espina, Senior Superintendent Macanas, Senior Inspector Magamay, Senior Police Officer 1 Banco, PCI Camacho, Superintendent Masauding, Superintendent Jambiran, Superintendent Elmer Cinco, Fiscal Onate, PCI Abordo, Police Officer 3 Arafol, Senior Police Officer Torrefiel, CIDG Senior Inspector Nunez, Gov Petilla, V Gov Loreto, Sixto Dela Victoria, Senior Inspector Pardinas, V Mayor Baybay, Mike Carry, Captain Albor from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Normal Sta. Iglesa, Captain Andrez Cruz, Captain Alberto Sumaliag, Captain Elonor Bacusmo, Captain Delia Batistis, Atty. Bato, Atty. Ungab, Ching Veloso, PCI Diaz, Mayor Tony Santiago, Paul Tan, Jojo Doyon, John Pilapil (media), Kag Janet Pulido, Linao (media), Yudz (media), Lalaine Jimenia (media).
I am not making any conclusions, I am just presenting the information available and I leave it up to you to make your own. I do have, however, a few questions particularly the curious circumstances on the death of Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr.:
One, he’s already incarcerated, does the police need a search warrant to search his cell?
Two, how does one resist arrest when one is already in jail?
Three, why is the hard drive of the CCTV conveniently missing?
And finally, he’s in prison; where did he get the firearms he supposedly used to resist arrest and engaged in a fire fight with the elements of the CIDG?
And just like with the elimination of the Odictas, the killing of Mayor Espinosa does not benefit the government at all; they need him alive more than dead. His death and silence will only favor those that will be implicated with his testimonies.
Call it an old journalist’s intuition but the Odicta and the Espinosa murders are somehow related./PN
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