Thursday 25 / April / 2024
Manila: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday defended police officers who killed a detained mayor on a list of top drug suspects even after another law enforcement agency concluded the death was an extrajudicial killing.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Tuesday disputed a police account that the mayor from central Leyte Province, Rolando Espinosa, was killed in a shootout in a jail when police came to search for guns and drugs last month.
The bureau described Espinosa's killing as a "rub out".
"I will have to defend them," Duterte said during a ceremony at the main army base in the capital, Manila, referring to the police officers.
"I will listen to the story and I will take it as the true version... because they are under me, I should believe them."
Earlier, Duterte had put Espinosa's name on a list of top drug suspects. The mayor, who denied involvement in narcotics, was arrested on October 5 on drugs and firearms charges.
Police said Espinosa and a fellow prisoner, Raul Yap, fired at a police team that had come to search their cells. Police returned fire and killed them.
Police say 2,004 people have been shot and killed by officers in self-defense during anti-drug operations since the president took office on July 1.
Espinosa's killing was also investigated by senators, who doubted the police version of events because they said there were many inconsistencies in the official report and witness accounts.
Duterte said he did not believe the investigation done by the NBI because they had no credible witnesses.
"As a matter of fact, I'm ready to go to jail for them, no problem," he added.
Investigators have filed murder cases against 21 police officers in connection with Espinosa's death.
Meanwhile, Duterte has ordered the arrest of Jack Lam, one of Asia's top casino kingpins, on charges of economic sabotage and bribery, according to the country's police chief.
Philippine authorities said they have also shut down two properties in the country that are owned by Lam, a Chinese citizen and head of Hong Kong-listed Jimei International.
Lam is not in the Philippines currently, national police chief Ronald Dela Rosa told reporters on Wednesday.
Last month, Philippine immigration authorities detained about 1,200 Chinese men working in call centre-like facilities for running suspected online gambling operations out of a former US air base, Clark Field.
Dela Rosa said in a radio interview on Saturday that an associate of Lam tried to secure their release. He said Duterte then ordered Lam's arrest.
On Wednesday, Dela Rosa said Lam had indicated to the authorities that he was willing to return to the Philippines and assist in any investigations.
"The feelers were to me," the police chief said.
Lam's casino operations in the cities of Laoag, which is in northern Luzon, and Clark, just north of Manila, have been shut down, according to local authorities and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.
Jimei said in a statement on Tuesday that Lam's gaming operations in the Philippines were personally owned and not part of the group's business.
"As at the date of this announcement, so far as the company is aware, Dr. Lam has not been held by the Philippine authorities," it said.
Jimei did not respond to requests for comment.
Lam, who used to bring high rollers to Macau's top casinos including Sands China and Wynn Macau, has faded from prominence over the past few years as Beijing's crackdown on corruption has crippled so-called junket operations.
At the same time, Lam's operations in the Philippines have grown, including a rise in Chinese nationals gambling online at his gaming site.
