Alleged Espinosa hitmen surrender

LEYTE, Philippines – Alleged hitmen associated with Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr and his son Kerwin surrendered to the police over the weekend.

One of them, Ruel Manidlangan, told Rappler that he is tired of running away from the law. 

“Sometimes you’re just relieved that it’s over,” Manidlangan, 45, and one of Espinosa’s security guards, said in the local dialect. “I don’t want to endanger the lives of my family, especially my children,” he said.

Manidlangan, father of 7 children and a native of Burauen, Leyte, was a former inmate at the Ormoc City Jail. He said it was Kerwin Espinosa who had helped get his case dismissed. After the dismissal, the Espinosa family offered him a job as a security aide.

Manidlangan, along with a certain Buan Anthony Zaldivar, turned themselves in to the Albuera police and gave up their 45 caliber pistols, which, according to them, were issued by Kerwin Espinosa.

Arrest warrant

Albuera Police Chief Inspector Juvy Espinido said they are still waiting for a court to issue an arrest warrant against Kerwin Espinosa.

Espinido said the court is still reviewing all affidavits and documents submitted by the police in relation to the cases they filed against him.

The Espinosas were tagged by President Rodrigo Duterte as among the country’s drug lords and protectors. Duterte in August called on both to surrender, prompting the mayor, Rolando Espinosa Sr, to report to Camp Crame to clear his name.

Kerwin Espinosa has refused to surrender, however.

A police raid at the Espinosa home in Albuera in early August yielded P88 million worth of shabu. 

“The Espinosa group is very organized. They’re obviously in the drug trade,” Espinido said. – Rappler.com