By Meanne Corvera
Eagle News Service
Two senators on Tuesday said the Department of Justice’s dismissal of drug charges against Kerwin Espinosa, Peter Lim and others was a blow to the government’s war on drugs.
In a statement, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said Lim had been identified by no less than President Rodrigo Duterte as a “big fish” in the drug industry.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian for his part said Espinosa himself confessed to being a drug distributor.
Espinosa made the confession in a Senate hearing on drugs in 2016.
“Government needs to work together to jail these drug lords. Instead of pointing fingers and dwelling on technicalities, cooperation among agencies is the best method to clean up the streets of illegal drugs,” he said.
The DOJ had cited a “dearth of evidence” in junking the charges against Espinosa in a December 2017 resolution made available to the media on Monday.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said the decision was not yet final.
