(UPDATED) - The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday, July 19, indicted alleged drug lord Rolan "Kerwin" Espinosa and four others for conspiracy to trade illegal drugs.
To be charged before the Makati Regional Trial Court are Espinosa, Wu Tuan a.k.a. Peter Co, Marcelo L. Adorco, Lovely A. Impal and Ruel S. Malindagan.
In a statement issued Thursday, the DOJ said the panel of prosecutors formed to conduct further preliminary investigation on the case against the respondents found probable cause to charge them with violation of Section 26 (B) in relation to Section 5, Article II of Republic Act No. 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002).
The resolution, issued about seven months after the DOJ first dismissed the charges, did not include the complaint against Cebuano businessman Peter Go Lim, whose request for a separate preliminary investigation was granted.
Lim's case is still pending, although the DOJ earlier said it has been submitted for resolution.
The prosecution panel dismissed the charges against the deceased respondents Max Miro, Nestor "Jun" Pepito and Rowen Reyes Secretaria.
The panel is composed of Senior Assistant State Prosecutors Juan Pedro C. Navera, Anna Noreen T. Devanadera and Prosecution Attorney Herbert Calvin P. Abugan.
In its resolution, the panel said it found sufficient the allegations of Marcelo Adorco identifying Espinosa, Co, Impal and Malindagan as his cohorts.
The panel explained that under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading is an offense distinct from drug trading.
It clarified that the agreement to trade in drugs is the gravamen of such an offense. The drugs themselves as corpus delicti of the drug trading is not necessary under Section 26 (B) of the law.
The panel stated that its conclusion is supported by the recent decision of the Supreme Court in the case of De Lima vs Guerrero, G.R. No. 229781, October 10, 2017.
The panel said it relied on the confession of Espinosa that he traded in drugs during the relevant periods as distributor in Central Visayas and Eastern Visayas regions.
Espinosa's confession, which appears in the transcript of stenographic notes on the investigation of the Senate committees on justice and public order, was not included in the original complaint filed by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) against the group.
The first complaint was dismissed by the DOJ for lack of evidence, sparking calls for the resignation of former Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.
Aguirre later resigned, but not before he formed another panel of prosecutors to reinvestigate the case. He has remained mum on the reason for his resignation.
Espinosa is the son of slain mayor Rolando Espinosa of Albuera, Leyte, who was killed inside his detention cell in Leyte in November 2016. (MVI/SunStar Philippines)