Alleged drug lord asks forgiveness from Duterte after return from Abu Dhabi

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Alleged Filipino drug lord Kerwin Espinosa is presented to the media by Philippine National Police Chief General Ronald Dela Rosa upon arrival from Abu Dhabi on Friday. Photo: AP

Published: 2:21pm, 18 Nov 2016Updated: 10:14pm, 18 Nov 2016

A suspected Filipino drug lord, whose father was killed in an alleged gun fight in prison, was repatriated on Friday from the United Arab Emirates to the Philippines, promising to tell all he knows about the narcotics trade in a move seen to bolster President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

Rolando “Kerwin” Espinosa Jnr arrived in handcuffs and flak jacket at Manila’s airport with a police team that fetched him from Abu Dhabi. National police chief Ronald dela Rosa, who has assured Espinosa’s safety, escorted him from the airport to a maximum-security facility at the police headquarters.

Dela Rosa rubs the nose to point out the alleged cosmetic surgery performed on Kerwin Espinosa during a press conference. Photo: AP

Espinosa’s father, town mayor Rolando Espinosa Snr, was arrested last month. He had agreed to cooperate with officials but was killed on November 5 in an alleged gun fight with police inside his jail cell. Senators investigating the case suspect it was an intentional killing.

At a news conference at the police headquarters, the younger Espinosa apologised to Duterte and asked for a chance to turn a new leaf.

“I ask forgiveness from President Duterte,” he said. “Whatever I have done in the past, I hope he can give me a chance to lead a new life.”

He assured Duterte that “all that I know about the drug trade will be revealed, all the names.”