MANILA – The Department of Justice has cleared alleged drug lord Peter Go Lim, confessed drug lord Rolan “Kerwin” Espinosa, convicted drug lord Peter Co and more than 20 others from drug-trafficking charges in a resolution made public on Monday but dated since Dec. 20 last year.
The respondents were charged last year by the Philippine National Police with violation of Section 26(b) in relation to Section 5 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
According to the resolution approved by Acting Prosecutor-General Jorge G. Catalan, Jr., the statements by accused Marcelo L. Adorco against his co-respondents “are rife with inconsistencies and contradictions.”
Mr. Catalan was referring to the dates and places of meetings with drug suppliers, and the volume of drugs involved, among others. He added:
“(D)iscrepancies in Adorco’s affidavits have seriously impaired their probative value and have casted serious doubt on their credibility. His contradictory statements on important details simply eroded the integrity and veracity of his testimony.”
Mr. Lim, a Cebu-based businessman, is reputedly a “kumpare” of President Rodrigo R. Duterte, who, however, had also linked the businessman to drugs. Mr. Lim at the time sought an audience with Mr. Duterte in an effort to clear his name.
Mr. Espinosa, tagged as the biggest drug lord in the Visayas, is the son of slain Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa, Sr., who was killed in 2016, in the course of a police operation right in his detention quarters in what an investigation subsequently tagged as a rubout. — Dane Angelo M. Enerio
