PNP chief: Drug suspect Kerwin Espinosa sends surrender feelers

Suspected drug lord Kerwin Espinosa wants to turn himself in to the Philippine National Police (PNP), a report on News TV Live said Thursday.

PNP chief Director General Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa said Espinosa's father,  Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr., was told by his brother over the phone about his son's surrender feelers.

No timeline has been set for his surrender, the report said.

Kerwin and his father have been asked by President Rodrigo Duterte to surrender or risk being killed if they resisted arrest.

The mayor surrendered on Tuesday but Kerwin remains in hiding and was reported to have left for Malaysia on June 21, nine days before President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office on June 30.

Dela Rosa promised to give Kerwin "humane treatment" and that he is even willing to fetch him at the airport once the latter returns to the country.

From the airport, the PNP chief said Kerwin will be brought to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group headquarters in Camp Crame so he can clarify allegations that he is involved in drug trafficking.

The mayor himself admitted that Kerwin is engaged in the sale of illegal drugs in Eastern Visayas.

The Espinosas, however, will not be detained because there are no pending charges against them, Dela Rosa said. —Virgil Lopez/KG, GMA News