According to Senator Panfilo Lacson, it is unbelievable for Mayor Espinosa would engage in a police shootout, knowing he would not get his way out ALIVE.
The credebility of the Philippine National Police (PNP) is now being challenged following the killing of Albuerra, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa by the police inside his jail cell on Saturday, November 5.
According to Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, who is a former chief of the PNP, the killing of Mayor Espinosa raised several questions toward the PNP and also the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).
Lacson earlier said that the killing of the Leyte chief executive can be considered as an extrajudicial killing and he was quoted saying, “Offhand I can smell EJK [extrajudicial killing] and I base my conclusion on the circumstances that surround the killing”.
The Solon made several observations on the ‘silencing’ of Mayor Espinosa, which he said made no sense.
Senator Lacson said, for a person locked up in jail, it is hard to believe that he would engage the police in a shootout, knowing that he would not get his way out alive.
The Senator also questioned why the CIDG were there to serve the warrant in the early hours and not the court sheriff. According to Lacson, the CIDG should have coordinated their efforts with the jail warden.
“The only other prisoner inside the same cell was also killed, therefore no witness could testify”, Lacson said. “Now, I dare them to answer these questions and more in order to convince me to believe their story. I think that incident is the biggest challenge to the credibility of the PNP that could affect even the other operations involving drug suspects killed under similarly suspicious circumstances”, Senator Lacson added.
Senator Lacson would ask Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate Committee on Human Rights, to consider reopening the probe in the issue of EJKS.