A TOP police official assured the Espinosa family that law enforcers are willing to secure them if they decide to bury Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. in Cebu.
The mayor’s vigil has started in Leyte, but the family has yet to confirm if they plan to have him buried in Cebu City, where he grew up.
His son Kerwin Espinosa, who remains detained in Abu Dhabi, may not make it back home in time for his 54-year-old father’s funeral.
The younger Espinosa has spoken with his younger sister and asked for his father’s forgiveness.
“Kaning anak bisan wala’y sala mangayo baya gud og pasaylo sa amahan. Kung siya mismo, gusto gud unta siya nga mohaya pero naa pa man siya didto (The son, even if their relationship wasn’t strained, has asked for his father’s forgiveness. He wants to be here for the burial but he’s still there),” Ramon Espinosa Jr., the mayor’s older brother, told Sun.Star Cebu.
The Espinosas’ ancestral house is in Barangay Hipodromo, Cebu City.
Security
Police Regional Director Noli Taliño told reporters that if the police confirm the need for security, they would provide it, even if the family doesn’t request it.
Last August, President Rodrigo Duterte named the mayor as one of 160 public officials allegedly involved in illegal drugs. Mayor Espinosa surrendered to clear his name, was released, but was then arrested last month.
Authorities working with Interpol arrested his son Kerwin, allegedly the biggest drug lord in Eastern Visayas, in Abu Dhabi last Oct. 17.
His uncle Ramon said that Kerwin heard on the news about what happened to his father last Saturday dawn, when a Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) 8 team shot him in jail, along with another detainee. The CIDG claimed self-defense.
“Naghilak siya nga nanghangyo nga patawagon diri. Niana na iyang mga manghud, ‘Ayaw na la’g kabalaka kay kami nay bahala ni Daddy’ (Kerwin begged someone to let him call us here. His siblings already told him not to worry because they will be the ones to take care of their father),” Ramon said.
The mayor had pleaded with Kerwin to surrender to Philippine National Police (PNP) Director Ronald dela Rosa.
Doubts
In a phone call with Sun.Star Cebu, Ramon revealed that President Duterte and Dela Rosa might visit Tacloban for the third anniversary of typhoon Yolanda today.
Ramon said that he heard the two leaders might talk to them and inspect the sub-provincial jail of Baybay, Leyte where Rolando was killed.
“Amo silang pangutan-on sa ilang saad sa una. Amo gyud kab-oton ang hustisya (We will ask them about what they promised. We will seek justice),” he said.
Ramon expressed his doubt over the investigation being conducted by the police, but remained hopeful that it will help the family find out more about the mayor’s death.
“Dili ta kasiguro kay ilaha ang gobyerno ug pareha ra sila’g uniform (We don’t know yet because they are the government and they wear the same uniform),” the elder Espinosa said.
The family already sent their requests for separate investigations to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 8 and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) through their lawyer Lanie Villarino.
The autopsy results have been interpreted and Villarino said in an earlier interview that there were signs of an overkill.
No fight
Some inmates in the Baybay, Leyte Sub-Provincial Jail also reportedly told Rolando’s family members that he had managed to plead for his life before he was gunned down together with another inmate, Raul Yap.
“’Ayaw ko ninyo patya kay gusto pa ko moatiman sa akong pamilya.’ Mao nang istorya sa mga piniriso (‘Please don’t kill me because I still want to take care of my family.’ That’s what the prisoners heard my brother say),” Ramon also said.
He described the first night of the mayor’s vigil in Leyte as peaceful.
The Espinosas are still waiting for the mayor’s sisters who will arrive from the United States, to decide whether they will bury him in Albuera, Leyte or in Hipodromo, Cebu City where the family came from.
Taliño, for his part, said he has not received information that Espinosa would be buried in Cebu.
He refused to comment if there was foul play behind Espinosa’s fatal shooting last Saturday dawn.