Press Release
March 13, 2018

Hontiveros on DoJ clearing Espinosa and Lim: Shows drug war is a sham, weakens case vs. de Lima

Contrary to the statement of the Department of Justice (DoJ) that its decision to clear suspected druglords Kerwin Espinosa, Peter Lim and several others of any connection with illegal drug trade operations is merely "a slight bump in the government's war on drugs", the dismissal of the said charges shows how duplicitous and a complete fraud the bloody drug war is.

It also weakens the case against Senator Leila de Lima, who was unjustly arrested and incarcerated based on ill-founded drug charges.

Lest we forget, Espinosa claimed that he gave Senator de Lima a total of P8 million for her senatorial campaign through her former driver, Ronnie Dayan.

With the DoJ clearing Espinosa of any involvement with the illegal drug trade, it only follows that it also nullifies Espinosa's charges against Senator de Lima.

Thus, it is not farfetched that the other charges made by convicted druglords against Senator de Lima are also baseless. If Espinosa's statement against Senator de Lima is not true, the same can be said of the other charges.

In the first place, the complaint against Senator de Lima was based solely on the testimonies made by convicted and self-confessed drug lords who have everything to gain and nothing to lose. The government utilized them as state witnesses, in violation of the Witness Protection Act, which states that those previously convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude cannot be state witnesses.

This latest development demonstrates how the Duterte government's war on drugs is a sham. While Senator de Lima was unjustly jailed, and thousands of poor people were killed under the government's bloody war on drugs, Espinosa is cleared of drug charges and the likes of Peter Lim, who is widely known as a big-time druglord, was not only allowed to evade the long arm of the law but also cleared of any wrongdoing.

I guess it pays to be Kerwin or in the case of Mr. Lim, the President's kumpare.

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