Self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa recanted and belied his previous allegations against Sen. Leila De Lima, who has been detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame in Quezon since 2016
In a counter-affidavit, Espinosa said that any statement that he made against De Lima stemmed from the 'pressure, coercion, intimidation, and serious threats to his life and family members from the police who instructed him to implicate the senator into the illegal drug trade'.
"He has no dealings with Sen. De Lima and has not given her any money at any given time," the counter-affidavit reads.
During a series of Senate hearings in 2016, Espinosa testified on the alleged involvement of De Lima in the illegal drug trade happening inside the New Bilibid Prison during her tenure as Justice secretary.
Espinosa said that he gave a total of Php 8 million to De Lima through her former driver Ronnie Dayan
Last February, the Department of Justice removed Espinosa from the witness protection program of the government after he and two other inmates attempted to escape from the holding faciltiy of the National Bureau of Investigation.
Recently, DOJ also confirmed that Espinosa has been moved to a holding facility of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) at Camp Bagong Diwa, in Taguig City
