Cop says ranking officials didn't give them chance to arrest Kerwin

One of the police officers allegedly on the payola of suspected drug lord Kerwin Espinosa on Wednesday accused retired Chief Supt. Vicente Loot and Senior Supt. Asher Dolina of preventing them from operating against Espinosa.

During a Senate hearing, Senator Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the Senate public order and dangerous drugs committee, asked the police officers why was Espinosa's illegal operation allowed to proliferate if the police were not turning a blind eye on it as they claimed.

“Karami-rami n’yong pulis doon wala man lang nag-intelligence project, maganda sanang accomplishment iyan. Kung ako ang assign doon baka matagal nang ano dyan, matagal nang nahuli,” Lacson said. 

Supt. Santi Noel Matira of the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Region 8 said they really wanted to arrest Espinosa but their commanders were not giving them a "chance" to do so.

“Kung sa gigil lang po hulihin si Kerwin, hindi lang po ako binigyan ng chance, yung mga dating commander po,” he said. 

Lacson then asked Matira to identify these "commanders," but the police official was hesitant to answer. When Lacson prodded him, Matira mentioned the name of Loot and Dolina.

“Pinaikot-ikot nila ako sa tatlong probinsya ng Samar. Kung binigyan lang ako ng chance na i-operate yan hindi na sana tayo aabot dito,” Matira said.

Matira, however, refused to answer on why he think Loot and Dolina seemed to be blocking the arrest of Espinosa. “‘Yun po ang hindi ko alam, mahirap po mag-speculate,” he said.

Disappointed, Lacson just told him: “Para kang hindi pulis.”

Espinosa had earlier in the hearing stated that he gave Matira a weekly payola of P15,000 that was later raised to P25,000.

The hearing was the resumption of the Senate investigation on the killing of Espinosa's father, Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa, during a supposed shootout with policemen inside his detention cell earlier this month. —KBK, GMA News