A local court issued an arrest warrant against Supt. Marvin Marcos and 19 other policemen from Eastern Visayas in connection with the death of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa four months ago.
Director General Ronald dela Rosa, chief of the Philippine National Police, announced the issuance of the arrest warrant against the 20 policemen, most of them from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Eastern Visayas.
“There are 20 of them (subject of the arrest warrant). The arrest warrant for murder was already served. They are all accounted for,” said Dela Rosa.
He added that Marcos and his men, along with some local policemen involved in the killing of Espinosa, are detained at the regional police office of the PNP in Eastern Visayas.
Marcos, who was then the head of the CIDG Eastern Visayas, figured in a controversy over the operation at the sub-provincial jail in Baybay City in Leyte on November 5 last year in which Espinosa and another inmate were killed after allegedly engaging the cops who were serving a search warrant to get the gun allegedly owned by the mayor inside the jail.
Espinosa, who was among the narco-politicians who surrendered to Dela Rosa after his name was mentioned by President Duterte, was detained in the sub-provincial jail for drugs and illegal possession of firearms charges.
The death of Espinosa inside the sub-provincial jail at the hands of the local CIDG men sparked suspicions that he was killed to silence him over his knowledge on local policemen are receiving drug money from him.
(Aaron B. Recuenco)