By HANNAH TORREGOZA
Senators yesterday assailed the decision of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to dismiss the criminal complaints that had been filed against several high-profile drug suspects, saying this gives the public mixed signals on the sincerity and credibility of the government’s war on illegal drugs.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said the DOJ decision dropping the charges against Kevin Espinosa Peter Lim, Peter Co, and the other drug personalities, is a “big blow to government credibility in its anti-drug operations or program.”
“Moreso, (because) Peter Lim was identified by the President as a big fish and Espinosa admitted in open session of his drug dealings,” Recto pointed out.
“At the very least, this decision sends mixed signals to the public in terms of our resolve to wage war against anyone dealing with illegal drugs, regardless of stature in life and the friends they have in high places,” Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito said.
“I am puzzled by the decision of the DOJ to clear Kerwin Espinosa, Peter Lim, Peter Co, and others of charges related to the narcotics trade,” Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito said.
“Kerwin confessed during the Senate hearing to transacting illegal drugs as early as 2005 with his earnings reaching R40-P50 million annually,” he pointed out.
Ejercito said Kerwin, who is codenamed as “Batman” also admitted to bribing government and police officials in order facilitate his illegal activities.
Sen. Richard Gordon said he is not pleased with the latest development, noting that Espinosa and Lim were among the high-profile personalities that were included in the government’s watch list.
Espinosa alone, Gordon said, had confessed to his involvement in the illegal drug trade in the Visayas region and how he lived his life as a drug lord during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing. The hearing was conducted to inquire into the killing of his father, Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa; the illegal drug trade; and the extrajudicial killings.
