SEN. Richard Gordon yesterday urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to determine which of the statements executed by self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa and former Bureau of Corrections officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos are perjurious and which are true.
“They have to find out which is the truth. Both persons have already admitted to perjury. Both testimonies contradict each other and it is very important that the Department of Justice bigla na lang hukayin ‘yan para malaman kung talagang may perjury (dig deeper into this so it can find out if there is really perjury),” Gordon said in an interview with CNN Philippines.
“He (Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra) should go after Ragos, go after Espinosa because these are statements under oath and this is the bedrock of prosecution of cases,” he added.
Gordon made the call after Ragos recanted his allegations against Sen. Leila De Lima and claimed he was coerced by former justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II to link the senator to the narcotics trade inside the New Bilibid Prison.
Ragos has earlier claimed that De Lima benefitted from the illegal drugs trade in the NBP when she was still justice secretary. The millions of pesos she reportedly received from convicted drug lords were used to fund her senatorial campaign in 2016.
Ragos’ recantation was made days after Espinosa took back his accusations that De Lima was involved in illegal drug activities.
Gordon said there may be two reasons why Ragos and Espinosa recanted — first, they changed their minds after their conscience struck them; and second, “because the President (Duterte) is approaching lame duck status (and) Aguirre is no longer justice secretary and that the case has stayed too long.”
Gordon clarified that both Ragos and Espinosa are liable for perjury and the investigation he is calling for is to determine which of their statements are true and which are lies.
“Truth is objective of any trial and (if) there is any cloud of doubt, then the case should be dismissed,” he said.
