Lawyer of Mayor Espinosa of Albuera, Leyte found dead, investigation underway
Tacloban City police are still investigating on the death of the lawyer of the controversial mayor, Rolando Espinosa, of Albuera, Leyte.
A man initially identified as Atty. Rogelio Bato, was found dead, with multiple gunshot wounds, inside a Toyota Hilux pickup at around 2:00 pm Tuesday.
Bato is the lawyer of Mayor Espinosa Sr and his son Kerwin, who is at large and believed to be hiding abroad.
Espinosa Sr. was charged after police raided his house and found an assortment of guns and drugs, while he was about to return to Albuera after trying to negotiate his son Kerwin’s surrender at Camp Crame.
Aside from Bato, a 15-year-old girl who was with him was also killed. Based on her uniform, authorities were able to determine that she was a student of Sagkahan National High School.
Around the crime scene along Barangay Lumbang 2 in this City, empty shells of M16 and caliber .45 ammunition were scattered and the numbers are yet to be determined.
Based on the accounts of witness living in the area, the owner of the vehicle with license plate YHH -461 is Atty. Rogelio Bato.
Police Senior Supt Rolando Bade, chief of police of Tacloban City police station, confirmed Bato’s identity.
The girl, wearing the uniform of Sagkahan National High School, has yet to be named.
The young woman suffered most of the multiple gunshots in the face.
The City Police Office’s Scene of the Crime Operatives began sifting for clues and documenting the scene.
Initial information indicated that the faces of the victims were showered with bullets as they suffered multiple gunshots.
Rolando Espinosa and Kerwin are being linked to illegal drug activities in Eastern Visayas.
The elder Espinosa voluntarily surrendered to the Philippine National Police early August after President Rodrigo Duterte gave a “shoot on sight order” against him and his Kerwin.
He has denied the accusation that he is a big-time drug lord, but a raid at their ancestral home yielded at least 11 kilograms of shabu and ingredients for bomb-making.
Kerwin, on the other hand, has left the country and is believed to be either in Singapore or Malaysia.