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By Martin Sadongdong
An alleged hitman of self-confessed drug lord Rolando “Kerwin” Espinosa Jr. and his live-in partner were gunned down inside a resthouse in Albuera, Leyte Thursday afternoon, police reported.
(COMMONS WIKIMEDIA/ MANILA BULLETIN)
Senior Insp. Salvador Apacible, Albuera town police chief, identified the victims as Jesus Tulin, legal age, a former bodyguard of Espinosa who allegedly turned into a hitman; and Sunshine Paton-og.
Police said a witness saw at least six armed men wearing bonnets barged into a resthouse in Barangay Talisayan where the victims were serving as caretakers around 1 p.m.
The resthouse, owned by a contractor based in Ormoc City, is undergoing repair and situated about three kilometers from the town police station. It was also near a hotel reportedly owned by the Espinosas.
The witness, a construction worker, said three of the gunmen pointed their guns at the laborers and told them to lie on the floor while three others entered the resthouse.
The laborers were then forced to leave the resthouse but the witness said he heard gunshots before fleeing and saw the three gunmen who entered the resthouse went up to the second floor.
The laborers then called for help moments after finding a safe place away from the gunmen. However, when they went back to the resthouse, the victims were already found dead.
A police report said Paton-og was found on the first floor of the resthouse while Tulin’s body was discovered on the second floor, where he was believed to be painting the ceiling.
Apacible said that aside from the statement of the construction worker, they were also trying to determine whether the resthouse was equipped with closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras to aid their investigation on the incident.
Hitman?
Tulin’s name was linked to Espinosa after the latter was arrested in October 2016.
He was allegedly one of the two hitmen paid by Espinosa to carry out an assassination plot against a certain Gregorio Velarde Sr. in 2015 due to a business dispute. A local court issued an arrest warrant against Espinosa over the said case.
Further, Apacible said another murder charge was filed on Monday against Tulin before a local court in Baybay City, Leyte for the shooting of a businesswoman in March 2018.
Kerwin, son of slain Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr., was tagged as among the leaders of the supposed Espinosa drug group operating in Visayas.
In a Senate hearing on November 23, 2016, the younger Espinosa confessed about his drug dealings in the region.
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