MANILA, Philippines - The processing of self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa’s inclusion in the government’s witness protection program (WPP) might start rolling on Tuesday, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II told The STAR yesterday.
Aguirre said Sen. Leila de Lima’s former bodyguard and boyfriend, Ronnie Dayan, might also start applying for witness protection on the same day.
Last Friday, Aguirre said Espinosa was expected to be included in the WPP provisional coverage on Saturday. But this apparently did not push through.
Both Espinosa and Dayan are expected to disclose information that could link De Lima to alleged illegal drug operations inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).
Aguirre said Dayan’s testimony could be the smoking gun that could pin down De Lima, his paramour for seven years.
“Dayan testified that De Lima ordered him to meet with Kerwin,” Aguirre said. “I will see what is the truth here and if I could reconcile them.”
A provisional coverage of the WPP is given to a person if he or she is a material witness in a major case and requires protection. If the person is given provisional WPP status, he is entitled to support for food and allowance.
Aguirre earlier said Dayan had promised to return to Manila by Nov. 29 to begin the processing of his possible application for provisional inclusion in the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s WPP.
Aguirre said they had wanted to start processing Dayan’s WPP application last Thursday, when Dayan appeared before the House of Representatives’ committee on justice.
“But the problem was Dayan first wanted to return to his family (in Pangasinan),” Aguirre said, “So, the process for the provisional WPP coverage will only begin most probably on Tuesday, the day he promised to return.”
While Dayan already had an affidavit that he read at the House hearing last Thursday, Aguirre said the former driver-lover of De Lima is still required to give another statement, since the DOJ had no participation in crafting his first affidavit.
Aguirre said Dayan’s testimony had several inconsistencies that need to be clarified, such as establishing his connection with the drug lords.
He said Dayan might have been inconsistent because he was afraid.
“I think he was hiding many things,” he said. “He should not be afraid because if everything that he will say is the truth and if he would be accepted in the WPP, he would have immunity from prosecution. So, he should not be afraid because no case would be filed against him.”
The justice secretary said there had been instances when a person with inconsistent testimony was still accepted into the WPP.
“Not all inconsistencies will disqualify you,” he pointed out. “As a matter of fact, there are several decisions in the Supreme Court wherein the minor inconsistencies, instead of being a mark against or proof that the person lied, could even be used to show that he is telling the truth.”
Meanwhile, Espinosa had mentioned a certain Lovely Impal, allegedly from Iligan City, as his contact for distributing illegal drugs.
The STAR found in the police blotter that sometime in 2014, Impal tried to pick up a package addressed to her from forwarding company LBC. But a combined team from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Philippine National Police intercepted her and found shabu valued at about P1 million stashed in the soles of shoes inside the package.
The case was filed in court, but was later dismissed.
Former Iligan Rep. Vicente Belmonte, who was then chair of the House committee on dangerous drugs, asked authorities to review the case. – With Lino de la Cruz