Ronnie Dayan, Sen. Leila de Lima’s former driver and boyfriend, on Thursday denied the claims of confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa and witnesses that testified at the House probe on drug proliferation at the national penitentiary.

Espinosa, in a Senate hearing on Wednesday, claimed to have dealt with Dayan several times from August 2015 until February this year to fund De Lima’s senatorial campaign.

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But during the resumption of the congressional inquiry into the drug trade, Dayan said he had already resigned and parted ways with De Lima.

Dayan also denied Espinosa’s claim that it was through Albuera police chief Senior Insp. Jovie Espinido that he got in touch with Dayan. “Walang katotohanan. Hindi ko kilala ‘yun,” Dayan said.

“Sa totoo lang hindi ko pa nakikita ang pagmumukha ng Espinido na ‘yan,” he added.

Philippine National Police chief Dir. Gen. Ronald dela Rosa said he himself did not know who to believe between Dayan and Espinosa, but admitted that his perception of Espinido was shifting from negative to a favorable doubt.

“Meron kaming pagdududa kay Kerwin, he’s telling half truth and half lies. I can also understand the feeling of other congressmen here in the House na nagdududa kung may kulang sa statement ni Dayan so it has to be reevaluated properly. Hindi rin ako makapagsabi kung sino ang nagsasabi sa kanila ng tototo,” Dela Rosa said when asked by Rep. Gwen Garcia about his thoughts on the contradicting statements.

“From negative dahan-dahang bumabalik konti ‘yung doubt ko in favor of Espinido dahil nga itong testimony ni Dayan. Si Kerwin mismo ang nagsabi na hindi niya raw mako-korap si Espinido dahil may prinsipyo daw at ayaw tumanggap ng pera but still my stand is hindi ko pa ma-determine kung sino ang nagsinungaling sa kanila. I think with the help of the House malalaman din natin yan,” Dela Rosa added.

In his testimony, Espinosa said Espinido told him that Dayan wanted to talk to him about De Lima’s need to raise money for her campaign kitty.

Both Espinido and Dayan denied knowing each other.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, chair of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs that led yesterday’s hearing, took notice of what he called “loop holes” in Espinosa’s testimony–how he was introduced to Dayan and the conflicting dates in their statements.

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Dayan also said he did not know that Espinosa was a drug dealer, which he said he only found out following the death of the latter’s father, the late Albuera Mayor Espinosa.

After his arrest in La Union on Tuesday, Dayan told reporters in the House of Representatives that he collected money on De Lima’s behalf from Espinosa five times in 2014, contradicting Espinosa’s claim that the transactions happened in 2015.

Espinosa claimed De Lima received a total of P8 million through Dayan. He said it was Dayan who arranged his meeting with the senator at Burnham Park in Baguio in November last year.

De Lima, who is being accused of coddling drug lords in the NBP, has vehemently denied accusations against her, including receiving a single centavo from Espinosa./rga

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