KERWIN ESPINOSA’S WORD— Hopefully, lightning will not strike twice on the Espinosas now that suspected drug lord Kerwin Espinoza is finally back from Abu Dhabi where he was in hiding for months.

Remember that Kerwin’s father, Rolando, mayor of Albuera, Leyte, was shot dead inside his cell at the Leyte sub-provincial jail by elements of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG). They tried to pull the wool over senators’ eyes during the investigation ostensibly to serve a search warrant at 4:00 a.m. and that one opened fire when the mayor fought back using a hand gun.

No less than PNP chief Roland de la Rosa has assured Kerwin’s safety and that of his family, the same thing he did to Kerwin’s father but still some misguided elements under his command still managed to sneak in and finished the elder Espinoza, knowing that a dead man tells no tale.

Weren’t these people told that they need no warrant at all when they wanted to search government facilities, like a penitentiary granting that there is truth to their claim that the elder Espinoza was keeping a handgun under his pillow and illegal drugs.

Ask the BJMP here and they’ll really tell you that something is amiss when a platoon-size CIDG operatives and Maritime police in full battle gear come knocking at a jail facility at a time when many were still snoring in their sleep.

All they could have to done was to coordinate with the jail warden during regular office hours (not at dawn) and together with the jail guards and policemen detailed to secure the facility implemented “Oplan Galugad”.

They lost a chance to become heroes in the eyes of the people of Leyte and instead became villains over the death of a drug lord. This prompted Senator Ping Lacson, a former PNP chief during Erap’s reign, to call the death of Mayor Roland Espinoza “premeditated”.

Back to Kerwin.

The younger Espinosa’s testimony is very material to the case being investigated by the Department of Justice, that he gave protection money to some well-placed government officials and the police to hold their punches and guns against his supposed drug syndicate.

Those who were in Kerwin’s list of of possible payola beneficiaries may now be getting edgy but most of us Filipinos await with bated breath the time when he finally spills the beans and names his supposed protectors.

If that happens, it’d be Kerwin’s word against them. – Leonardo Micua

 

POLITICS AND THE TREES –A lady lawyer was so emphatic and mad during a conversation in a chance meeting Tuesday with three reporters in the central part of Pangasinan.

Her concern was about roads widened in Pangasinan but some trees at the road shoulder remain. Nakaharang, hindi tinatanggal.

Here’s what the lawyer said in rapid succession:

Is this not foolishness? Why don’t they remove those trees? The good project of road widening became useless. Trees that are standing mightily on the road invite accidents. Who should take the lead to remove the trees? The DPWH? The DENR? The governor? The mayor?

Farmers dry their palay there which is another potential source of road mishap.

This corner told the lawyer that the provincial board adopted Resolution No. 269-2014 opposing the cutting of trees along the national and local roads within Pangasinan with the intent to preserve as many trees as possible.

“Kalokohan, pulitika lang yan,” came her quick retort. I decided to keep mum on hearing the lawyer call out politics.

I also remember then Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson who stood firm that trees within the right-of-way defined as land reserved and secured to the public for highways purposes must be removed.

Singson explained the reason for it is that public safety and convenience are the primordial considerations in the use of the land.

“Precisely, that’s my concern, that’s my point” the lawyer said.

“Imagine, you are driving confidently thinking that the road is okay because it has been widened, without any barriers like trees alongside. And then in an instant, bang, your car collides in a mango tree on the roadside that stands there although the area is already cemented and is part of the road widened. Mamamatay ka dyan!,” she said.

“Who should answer for that?,” she asked. “I hope no one among our provincial officials would be a victim of that kind of accident,” she said angrily.

“Meron na po isang board member nabangga sasakyan nya,” another lady reporter said.

What more can I say? The root cause of this is purely politics. That’s the way I see it, too.— Tita Roces

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