EDITORIAL - Recantation

Testimonies in criminal cases are best backed by material evidence – especially if the testimony is being given by a crime suspect himself. Several such witnesses have recanted their original testimonies, and some even reversed the recantation after being threatened with indictment for perjury.

The recantation of self-confessed drug dealer Kerwin Espinosa therefore comes as no surprise. Espinosa had testified that Sen. Leila de Lima was involved in the illegal drug trade. The claim supported similar allegations hurled against her by convicts in the New Bilibid Prisons as well as her former driver who said she accepted drug money from NBP inmates for her Senate campaign when she was secretary of justice.

De Lima has denied all the allegations against her. Malacañang has said Espinosa’s recantation carries no weight since he is not a state witness against De Lima. The Department of Justice, which has jurisdiction over the Bureau of Corrections and the Bilibid penitentiary, wondered why it took Espinosa five years to change his story. Palace and DOJ officials have stressed that De Lima faces trial for drug trafficking cases that are not dependent on Espinosa’s testimony.

DOJ officials are studying whether perjury charges should be filed against Espinosa, whose father Rolando Espinosa, the former mayor of Albuera, Leyte, was shot dead in a police operation in his Baybay City jail cell in November 2016. Kerwin Espinosa recanted after he was removed from the government’s Witness Protection Program last February.

Beyond studying perjury charges, however, state prosecutors and the courts should speed up the wheels of justice. De Lima has been detained at Camp Crame for five years now, even as she carries out her duties as a senator. She blames her ordeal on her staunch criticism of the Duterte administration.

If the government is correct in insisting that De Lima is guilty, five years should be enough time to present solid evidence and secure her conviction on at least one of the cases against her. Otherwise, recantations such as those made by Espinosa will merely reinforce her claim that she is a victim of political persecution.