Filing of charges vs. ‘Bikoy’ videos uploader left to NBI

Panelo said it is not necessary for the President to give the NBI special instructions because it’s the agency’s job to file criminal cases against those who violate the law. (File Photo: Office of the Presidential Spokesperson/Facebook)

MANILA — Malacañang on Thursday said it will leave to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) whether to file charges against the suspected uploader of videos, which implicated the family and allies of President Rodrigo Duterte to the illegal drug trade.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made this comment after the NBI arrested a “person of interest” in the series of videos titled “Ang Totoong Narcolist” but the agency clarified that this was not ‘Bikoy’ himself, a hooded man who appeared in the videos.

Panelo said it is not necessary for the President to give the NBI special instructions because it’s the agency’s job to file criminal cases against those who violate the law.

“The President doesn’t have to instruct any police agency to file any case. It is the duty of the police enforcement agencies to file cases against violators of the law,” Panelo said in a Palace briefing.

“We will wait for the report. The police or NBI will have to do their duty,” he added.

Asked what charges Palace would like filed against the uploader of the videos, Panelo refused to comment saying he would rather wait for an official report from the NBI.

“Wala pa nga eh (There’s no report yet). Until such time, we cannot make any response. We have to get a report officially,” said Panelo, also Chief Presidential Legal Counsel.

“The NBI apparently is investigating it, the PNP (Philippine National Police) is investigating it,” he added.

Panelo, meanwhile, said he had no knowledge of whether the Bikoy videos had any relation to the alleged Oust Duterte matrix, a diagram which names journalists and lawyers as part of an alleged plot to discredit the President.

“(I have) no personal knowledge (of that),” Panelo said.

The “Ang Totoong Narcolist” videos link presidential son and former Davao City vice mayor Paolo Duterte, former Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go, and presidential son-in-law Manases Carpio to an illegal drug syndicate.