Alleged drug lord Kerwin Espinosa files candidacy in Leyte

MANILA, Philippines — Self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa is eyeing the mayoral position in Albuera, Leyte.

The alleged drug lord filed his certificate of candidacy for the position of mayor on Tuesday, October 1.

Espinosa was accompanied by other aspirants running under his slate called “Bando Espinosa-Pundok Kausaban.” He was also with supporters from different barangays in the town of Albuera.

Who is Kerwin Espinosa?

Kerwin is the son of Albuera’s former mayor, Ronaldo Espinosa, who died in 2016 due to an alleged shootout that the Commission on Human Rights and the Senate branded as “extrajudicial killing.”

Kerwin and his father were both linked to the illegal drug trade during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Espinosa was initially indicted by the Department of Justice for the illegal drug trade in Western Visayas in August 2021.

One of the charges was later dropped in December 2021, while he and one of his colleagues were acquitted of a drug trade charge for insufficient evidence in June 2023.

On June 11, a Leyte court dismissed another drug case against Kerwin and his P600,000 was ordered to be returned.

Espinosa continues to face money laundering charges in a Pasay court.

He is also dealing with two cases involving illegal possession of dangerous drugs and firearms, which the Court of Appeals ordered to be reopened in May.

In 2016, Espinosa claimed that he gave a total of P8 million in drug money to former senator Leila de Lima when she was still Justice secretary, through her former driver, Ronnie Dayan.

He alleged that Dayan called him in 2015 to solicit money as campaign funds for De Lima in exchange for protection, given his own involvement in the illegal drug trade.

However, in April 2022, Espinosa recanted his testimonies against De Lima, saying that he was “coerced, pressured, intimidated, and seriously threatened” by the police to implicate De Lima in a Senate joint committee hearing on the killing of his father, Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr.

The recantation resulted in the dismissal of one of the drug trade cases against De Lima.