Kerwin Espinosa claims Dela Rosa coerced him to implicate De Lima in drug trade

Alleged drug lord Kerwin Espinosa on Friday claimed that former national police chief and now-Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa coerced him to link Leila de Lima in the illegal drug trade, which led to her years-long detention. Aside from De Lima, Dela Rosa also forced him to implicate businessman Peter Lim, Espinosa claimed in his bombshell testimony as a resource person of the House quad-committee investigating the drug war of former President Rodrigo Duterte. According to Espinosa, Dela Rosa, the chief implementer of Duterte's anti-drugs campaign, pressured him to pin De Lima and Lim on November 17, 2016. At the time, Espinosa had just returned from Abu Dhabi and was facing drug-related charges. Recalling he was escorted by police upon his return, Espinosa told the joint panel: "Ang sumundo sa akin, si General Bato, inakbayan niya ako papunta sa sasakyan na Land Cruiser na puti, na bullet-proof. "Noong sumakay na kaming lahat, si General Bato na sa front seat, ako ay na sa likod, pinagitnaan ako ng dalawang mga pulis, at sinabihan niya ako na, 'Aminin mo na sangkot ka sa kalakaran sa droga dito sa Pilipinas,' at idawit ko si Peter Lim at si Leila de Lima para madiin na sila." Espinosa then claimed that Dela Rosa threatened that if he didn't go along with the plan, he would meet a similar fate as his father, the slain Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa. Rolando was killed during a raid in his jail cell in Leyte on November 5, 2016, after he was accused by Duterte as having involvement in the drug trade. "Kapag hindi raw ako sumunod sa plano, puwedeng mangyari sa akin ang nangyari sa ama ko, o isa sa mga pamilya ko ang mamatay din," Espinosa said. Subscribe to the ABS-CBN News channel! - http://bit.ly/TheABSCBNNews Watch full episodes on iWantTFC for FREE here: http://iwanttfc.com Visit our website at http://news.abs-cbn.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abscbnNEWS Twitter: https://twitter.com/abscbnnews Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abscbnnews