MANILA -- Peter Joemel Advincula, alias "Bikoy", the man behind a series of videos called “Ang Totoong Narcolist”, surrendered to the Philippine National Police (PNP) and named Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and the Liberal Party (LP) as behind these videos.
PNP Chief, Gen. Oscar Albayalde, presented Advincula to the media on Thursday.
Albayalde said Advincula and his cohorts are facing an estafa case and have standing warrants of arrest issued by Judge Leody M. Opolinto of the Municipal Trial Court of La Trinidad, Benguet on Sept 26, 2007, and for large-scale illegal recruitment issued by the Baguio City Regional Trial Court on Aug. 10, 2007.
“He surrendered to us, particularly sa (to the) Northern Police District, yesterday afternoon. Advincula heeded my call to surrender and face the string of criminal cases filed against him by persons whom he allegedly defrauded in Baguio. Advincula has been sending surrender feelers to the PNP while the pressure of manhunt operations for his arrest became more intense, after the Integrated Bar of the Philippines denied his request for assistance,” the PNP chief told reporters during the press briefing.
Albayalde said Advincula underwent booking procedure before the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) prior to his turnover to the court.
Advincula recanted his previous accusations, saying these were all lies supposedly orchestrated by Trillanes and the LP.
A series of videos called “Ang Totoong Narcolist” tagged the family and allies of President Rodrigo R. Duterte in the illegal drug trade.
Among the personalities that Bikoy implicated in the illegal drugs operations through the videos were presidential son Paolo, his brother-in-law Maneses Carpio and former presidential aide, Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go.
“Siguro po ito na ‘yung tawag ng konsensya. Napakahirap po mabuhay sa kasinungalingan. Napakahirap mabuhay sa isang buhay na mayroong direktor, mayroog mga nag-direk, nag-script ng gagalawin at gagawin mo. Nung nagsalita po ako sa IBP, kung napansin n’yo gumaralgal ang salita ko. Kasi taliwas po sa loob ko ‘yung sinasabi ko na binabasa ko sa script (I think this is the call of conscience. It is difficult to live a life of lies. It is difficult to live a life where there is a director who has a script and dictates what will you do. When I spoke at the IBP, if you will notice, I was stuttering. It's because what I said based on the script is opposite of what I really know),” said Advincula, who was accompanied by his mother and brother.
He insisted the he was the man clad in a hoodie in the five videos and all the allegations he made were scripted and contain lies to discredit and damage the credibility of the administration’s candidates in the recently-concluded mid-term election.
“Opo, ex-convict ako, galing ako ng NBP (New Bilibid Prison), nakulong ako sa Naga District Jail, galing ako ng Bureau of Corrections. Pero di pa naman ako ganun na, ‘yung lebel ng tao na napakasama na. Kahit papano po may konsensya pa ako. Hindi ko po kayang panindigan ‘yung mga scripted na kuwento, na ngayong talo na ‘yung mga kandidato nila, nararamdaman ko na unti-unti na akong nilalaglag at ang kinatatakutan ko, baka sila pa ang mag-eliminate sa akin kinalaunan dahil wala na akong silbi sa kanila (Yes, I am an ex-convict. I came from the New Bilibid Prison. I was imprisoned at the Naga District Jail. I came from the Bureau of Corrections. But I am not that kind of person, the level of person who is really evil. I still have a conscience. I cannot stand pat on scripted stories. Now that their candidates lost, I feel that they are slowly putting me down and what I fear is they might eliminate me later on since I am of no use to them),” he added.
Advincula earlier sought legal assistance from the IBP but he was denied after failing to pass the organization's evaluation process.
Advincula also bared that he tried to seek Trillanes' assistance so that he could post bail on his cases, but the senator's chief security did not allow him to talk to Trillanes
Advincula said the plot against the administration was entitled “Project Sodoma” and he claimed that the “script” was “orchestrated” by Trillanes.
“Lahat yun pawang kasinungalingan. Kasinungalingan kasi may plano ‘yung kabilang kampo magpaputok ng issue para ma-divert ang attention ng tao. Papataas nang papataas ang rating ng administration candidates, samantalang walang pumapasok sa Otso Diretso candidates (All of these are lies. These are lies because there is a plan from the other camp to make an issue so that the attention of the people will be diverted. The administration candidates were getting high ratings while Otso Diretso candidates were at the losing end),” he said.
He said he met Trillanes through a religious priest, Father Albert Alejo.
He said Trillanes and the Liberal Party planned it for at least nine months and promised him PHP500,000 in exchange for his “act” but they failed to fulfill it until after the election on May 13 where none of the opposition bets won.
Advincula said his main role was to read the script prepared by the party, which includes documents that they claimed to have been verified from the bank.
Advincula said he met all the Liberal Party bets regarding the plot except for Manuel Roxas II.
He said Project Sodoma aims to unseat Duterte.
"Aside from pieces of evidence, we still have continuous communication with the groups. We just don't have an obvious meeting. We are meeting at secluded universities such as De La Salle University and Ateneo de Manila University,” he said in Filipino.
Advincula said he is also not aware of the tattoos at the back of Paolo and Bong Go, which he claimed to contain their codes in the drug syndicates, in the series of videos.
Advincula, however, apologized to Paolo and Go whom he dragged into this fiasco, as well as to the first family.
Meanwhile, Albayalde said they can provide security to Bikoy if he will make a request after claiming threats to his life.
Albayalde also said that they will look into Advincula’s statements and will file cases against personalities tagged as behind the video once they secure substantial pieces of evidence. (PNA)
