Ex-drug lord wants ICC to try, rule on Duterte cases over drug war

Rolan “Kerwin” Espinosa starts his campaign to become the next mayor of Albuera, Leyte, where his late father, Rolando Sr., also served as mayor. —Photo by Roel T. Amazon | Contributor

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — Rolan “Kerwin” Espinosa, once accused by authorities as the biggest drug lord in Eastern Visayas, believed it is proper to let former President Rodrigo Duterte undergo trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“He had it coming. He is a lawyer and a prosecutor. He challenged the ICC to come to the country and arrest him,” said Kerwin in a press conference in Albuera town, Leyte, as he kicked off his mayoral campaign on March 30.

“Our former president has undergone due process, unlike during his time when many victims didn’t get the proper legal proceedings. Some were killed based only on suspicion, and he even admitted it,” he added.

In October last year, Kerwin said he was “1,000 percent” willing to testify before the ICC in their investigation into the previous administration’s drug war, which government data showed resulted in more than 6,000 deaths.

Kerwin’s father, Rolando, a former mayor of Albuera, was gunned down on Nov. 5, 2016, for allegedly trying to engage operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in a shootout while he was detained for drug charges at the sub-provincial jail in Baybay City, Leyte.

Rolando was one of the mayors tagged in the illegal drug trade by Duterte.

Before his death, Rolando surrendered to the Philippine National Police and admitted he and his son, Kerwin, had been manufacturing and trafficking shabu from their base in Albuera.

Kerwin was arrested by authorities in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates by the police on Oct. 17, 2016, and was deported to Manila after a month.

He was charged in court for his alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade.

However, the drug cases filed against him were dismissed by the Regional Trial Courts (RTCs) in Makati, Manila, and Baybay City in Leyte for insufficiency of evidence.

Kerwin was subsequently released in December 2023 but is still facing a money laundering case before a Pasay City court and two cases – for illegal drugs and firearms — that the Court of Appeals ordered reopened before a Manila court.

Kerwin, who is running for mayor of Albuera with addressing the proliferation of illegal drugs as his primary campaign platform, dismissed calls from Duterte’s supporters to bring the former president back to the country.

“Why do we still need to bring him back? Before, he dared the ICC to come for him, saying he might even die before they could arrest him. Now, it’s a different story,” he said.

Duterte, 79, was arrested last March 11 under an ICC warrant over allegations of crimes against humanity following the drug war he launched during his stint as president from 2016 to 2022.

He was subsequently transferred to the Netherlands to face the cases against him.

In October last year, during a House quad committee looking into the government’s war on drugs and crimes linked to Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos), Kerwin said that Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa had threatened him into naming former Sen. Leila De Lima as a “protector” of illegal drug syndicates.

Kerwin also alleged that Dela Rosa had pressured him into linking Cebu City businessman Peter Lim, former Leyte Rep. Vicente Veloso III, and retired Police Brigadier General Vicente Loot, among others, in drug trafficking.

Dela Rosa denied the claims made against him.