MANILA, Philippines – Alleged drug lord and Albuera, Leyte mayoral bet Kerwin Espinosa has filed a criminal complaint against cops involved in his recent shooting.

Espinosa filed with the Leyte provincial prosecutor’s office a frustrated murder complaint against the following cops:

• Police Colonel Reydante Ariza (former Ormoc City police chief)
• Police Lieutenant Colonel Leonides Sydiongco
• Police Corporal (PCpl) Arvin Jose Baronda
• PCpl Jeffrey Dagoy
• PCpl Alexander Reponte
• Police Staff Sergeant Alrose Astilla
• Patrolman Maricor Espinosa

Espinosa was shot while campaigning at a covered court in Barangay Tinag-an, Albuera, last April 10. He survived the shooting and was rushed to Ormoc City for medical treatment.

The mayoral bet sustained a gunshot wound to the chest after he was shot up close, with the gunman right in front of him. Espinosa said he had received death threats prior to the shooting.

Following the incident, Eastern Visayas police chief Police Brigadier General Jay Cumigad relieved Ariza, replacing him with Police Colonel Dennis Jose Llavore pending the probe into the shooting. The seven cops were tagged as persons of interest and held under the custody of the Leyte provincial police.

Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Police Brigadier General Jean Fajardo said the nabbed cops drew suspicion because they were assigned in Ormoc City but were found in a compound in Albuera, where the gunman was traced by the authorities.

The Espinosa family was thrust into national consciousness after the Albuera mayoral bet was accused of being the top illegal drug personality in Eastern Visayas. Former president Rodrigo Duterte accused Kerwin and father Rolando of being involved in the illegal drug trade after a police operation that seized P11 million worth of shabu in a tennis court near Espinosa’s home.

The older Espinosa was killed inside his jail cell in 2016, only months after he first surrendered to then-PNP chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.

Kerwin was also part of the cases against former senator Leila de Lima. He was accused of giving De Lima payout drug money through bodyguard Ronnie Dayan. In 2022, Espinosa retracted all his accusations against De Lima and said he was “coerced, pressured, intimidated, and seriously threatened” to make his previous statement.

During the House of Representatives’ probe into Duterte’s drug war and extrajudicial killings, Espinosa testified that he was forced by Dela Rosa to lie and link De Lima to illegal drugs. – Rappler.com