‘Bikoy’ now says drug allegations vs Duterte not true

FILE: Mugshot and booking procedure of Peter Joemel Advincula alias “Bikoy”. Advincula tags Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and the Liberal Party as the masterminds behind the controversial “Ang Totoong Narcolist” video. (Photo: PNP-PIO via Phil News Agency/Twitter)

Following the proclamation of winning senators and party-list groups, the man who introduced himself as “Bikoy” in the “Ang Totoong Narco List” video series that linked the First family to illegal drug trade said on Thursday, May 23, that the allegations he made were not true.

Earlier this month, Peter Joemel Advincula revealed himself as “Bikoy,” the anonymous figure in the anti-Duterte videos who had claimed to be a former member of a drug syndicate; in a press conference to seek legal assistance in filing a case against those he had named in his clips. Among those individuals he mentioned were Presidential son Paolo Duterte, Presidential son-in-law Manases Carpio, and senator-elect Christopher “Bong” Go who was President Rodrigo Duterte’s former aide.

But appearing in a press briefing at Camp Crame after he surrendered to the police on Wednesday, Advincula claimed that all his accusations were ‘all lies’ and that the controversial videos were “orchestrated” by the Liberal Party (LP) and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.

“Lahat ng nangyari sa Ang Totoong Narco List, video episode 1 to video episode 5, ‘yung ni-record ko nung nasa isang kumbento ako, lahat ‘yon pawang scripted. Lahat ‘yon [ay] pawang kasinungalingan (Everything that happened in the Ang Totoong Narco List, from video episode 1 to video episode 5, what I have recorded when I was in a convent, all of those were scripted. They were all lies),” he said.

Advincula said it took nine months to plan on how will they make ‘noise’ in the May 13 polls to ‘divert the attention of the public to what is really happening in the country.’

“At ito nga ‘yung paputok kay Bikoy [ay] para ma-discredit si senator-elect Bong Go [at] ‘yung iba pang sangkot doon na pulitiko na wala naman talaga. Hindi totoo ‘yon, walang kototohanan lahat-lahat ‘yon (And this revelation of Bikoy was to discredit senator-elect Bong Go and those politicians involved there when they really do not have anything to do with it. That is not true, there is no truth to those),” he stressed.

“Pawang orchestrated lamang ng mga nasa kabilang party (It was orchestrated by the other party) which is the Liberal Party under the handling of Senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV,” he continued.

Advincula claimed that he did not only talk to Trillanes, but they have also met several times to carry out “Project Sodoma.” This plan, he said, aims to oust Duterte and put Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo, LP’s chairperson, in power.

“Hinahabol ni Senator Trillanes bago magtapos ang term niya ngayon June 30, 2019 dahil kapag napabagsak si Presidente Duterte, ang uupo (Senator Trillanes was rushing it before his term ends this June 30, 2019, because once President Duterte is ousted, the one who will take over the seat will be), duly constitutionalized, the vice president of the Republic of the Philippines her excellency Leni Robredo,” he said.

Robredo, he added, will then appoint a certain congressman or senator to be the vice president and Trillanes “will be [in] the line.”

“‘Yun ang pinaka-plano ng Ang Totoong Narco List (That was the main plan in the Ang Totoong Narco List),” Advincula said.

Dismissing claim

In a statement, Trillanes denied Advincula’s latest claim, saying that it could be the Duterte administration’s another move to “harass” the opposition.

“For now, I will be consulting with my lawyers so that we could also file the appropriate charges against him,” the lawmaker added.

Robredo also dismissed accusations that she is conniving with Trillanes in a supposed scheme to oust the President.

The Vice President, in a press conference, said, “I met Senator Trillanes a few times during the campaign dahil sa ilang mga meetings patungkol sa kampanya, in fact, pumunta siya dito sa office.”

Robredo said she did not exactly recall if Trillanes went to her office two or three times, but the purpose of the lawmaker’s visit is to present the internal survey of the Magdalo group.

“Kaya niya sa akin pine-present ‘yung internal survey sa Magdalo para gamitin ‘yung survey para sa pag-strategize para sa campaign pero other than that, in all of our meetings, walang mention about destabilization, walang mention ng pagpapabagsak sa gobyerno, walang mention tungkol kay Bikoy, lahat ng pinag-usapan tungkol sa kampanya (The reason why he presented to me the internal survey of the Magdalo was that to use it for strategizing for the campaign but other than that, there was no mention of destabilization, no mention of toppling the government, no mention of Bikoy, everything that was discussed was about the campaign),” she explained.

She also noted that she has been accused of having a hand in destabilizations plots since 2016, but stressed that she would never participate in any of those.

Senate Minority Franklin Drilon, LP’s vice chair, meanwhile, described Advincula’s allegations as “ridiculous on so many levels.”

He urged the Philippine National Police (PNP) to “get to the bottom” of the issue and file appropriate charges.

Advincula, who is facing estafa and large-scale recruitment cases, underwent booking procedure at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-National Capital Region (CIDG-NCR).