MANILA — A Leyte court on Tuesday granted self-confessed drug lord Rolan “Kerwin” Espinosa bail in the conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading case he is facing, along with 4 other co-accused.

In a resolution dated June 13, Baybay City, Leyte Regional Trial Court Branch 14 Judge Carlos Arguelles approved Espinosa’s and his co-accused’s bail petition “due to the failure of the prosecution to prove that evidence of guilt against them is strong.”

He recommended a P700,000 bail bond for each of the accused.

Espinosa, however, will still remain behind bars because he is still facing 2 other non-bailable cases before the Manila RTC — one is for drugs and another for illegal possession of firearms and explosives — according to his lawyer Raymund Palad.

The whole drug case relied on Espinosa’s and his co-accused’s own admissions before the Philippine National Police (PNP), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Senate that he conspired to commit illegal drug trading with co-accused Brian Anthony Zaldivar, Jose Antipuesto, Alfred Batistis and Marcelo Adorco.

• DOJ panel indicts Kerwin Espinosa, 10 others of drugs charge

The prosecution submitted the affidavits of the accused and transcripts of hearings from other court cases, as well as documents from probes in the Senate, the NBI and the Department of Justice.

But in a 6-page resolution, Judge Arguelles said an extrajudicial confession is not enough and must be supported by the corpus delicti or the body of the crime, citing section 3, Rule 133 of the Revised Rules on Evidence.

The list of exhibits submitted by the prosecution did not include illegal drugs or drug money recovered from the accused.

“[T]he extrajudicial confession of the accused cannot be considered as strong evidence of guilt against the accused in the absence of corpus delicti. Sifting and scouring through the tangled web of the prosecution evidence, this Court does not find any corroboration. There were no eyewitnesses in the commission of the crime that would positively identify Espinosa and his co-accused of having committed the crime charged,” he said.

The court also treated Espinosa’s testimony at the Senate as an extrajudicial confession that must also be corroborated by corpus delicti.

And while the accused implicated each other in the alleged commission of the crime charged, the rules on evidence require corroboration by independent evidence.

The prosecution presented four investigators but the court said that the prosecution witnesses have “no personal knowledge as to the commission of the crime.”

“Admittedly, prosecution witnesses testified only in their official capacities, and absolutely they have no personal knowledge of the commission of the crime. Their personal knowledge is constricted and confined to the performance of their functions anent to the investigation conducted against Espinosa and his co-accused,” the court ruled.

The grant of Espinosa’s bail petition came a few days after he and co-accused Adorco were acquitted by a Makati court of a drug case while the other co-accused, alleged drug lord Peter Lim and Ruel Malindangan remain at large.

• Kerwin Espinosa acquitted in drug case; Peter Lim remains at large

In December 2021, Espinosa was also acquitted by another Makati court in a separate drug charge after Adorco retracted all his claims against Espinosa and former Senator Leila de Lima.

• Court stands by dismissal of drug case vs Kerwin Espinosa

De Lima faced a similar conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading charge and also applied for bail, but her bail petition was recently denied by a Muntinlupa court, citing the testimonies of mostly convicted witnesses who claimed knowledge as to how the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison was allegedly perpetrated.

• Muntinlupa court denies Leila de Lima's bail petition

Two Muntinlupa courts have earlier acquitted De Lima of separate drug charges.

• Muntinlupa court junks 1 of 3 drug cases vs De Lima
• De Lima acquitted of conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading
• 'Rule of law prevailed': Justice chief welcomes De Lima’s acquittal

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