Jayme may become state witness – NBI
Credit to Author: CATHERINE A. MODESTO| Date: Fri, 03 May 2019 16:20:31 +0000
Rodel Jayme, the man arrested early this week for allegedly uploading “Bikoy” videos that implicated members of the family of President Rodrigo Duterte in the illegal drug trade, might be tapped as a state witness, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said on Friday.
PHOTO BY J.GERARD SEGUIA
“It is very possible [to turn him into a state witness] if he continues to spill the beans on others, and we get to prove that he just created the website and nothing else,” Ferdinand Lavin, NBI spokesman, said.
Jayme admitted that he was paid P2,500 by Maru Nguyen to create the Metro.Balita.net website.
He said he gave Nguyen access to the website, and that it was the latter who uploaded the “Ang Totoong Narcolist” videos that linked former Davao City vice mayor Paolo”Pulong” Duterte, Manases Carpio and Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go to the illegal drugs trade.
Jayme said he was not Bikoy, the hooded man who accused Carpio, Go and Duterte of being members of a drug syndicate.
However, he said he knew Nguyen because they were both supporters of the Liberal Party.
Jayme denied reports that he worked for Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo.
“Sa pagkakaalam ko, si Mary Nguyen ay supporter ng Liberal Party. Nagkakilala kami noon sa mga sortie (As far as I know, Mary Nguyen is a supporter of the Liberal Party. We met during sorties),” he said.
He said there were other people behind the Bikoy videos, but he declined to identify them so as not to compromise the investigation being conducted by the NBI.
The NBI on Thursday filed charges of inciting to sedition against Jayme before the Department of Justice. It said the Bikoy videos that went viral on the internet were designed to sow hatred towards the government.
Jayme, a high school graduate, said he feared for his life.
Lavin said the NBI was set to file more complaints against Jayme for cyberlibel and child abuse, because the Bikoy videos also claimed that the President’s 13-year-old daughter, Veronica, received drug money.
He said that filing of criminal charges against Jayme was a strategy prior to the acceptance of the latter as a state witness.
Destabilizers?
Labor Undersecretary Jacinto “Jing” Paras on Friday said Robredo and Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th might be behind the destabilization effort against the Duterte administration.
Paras, in a news briefing, showed several photos of Robredo and Jayme, which, he said, could be used to expand the NBI probe on the controversial videos.
“The reported involvement of Robredo and Trillanes show that those Bikoy videos are spurious and a mere figment of their wild imagination,” he said.
“This is entirely of a political nature, a direct attempt by these people to return to power using the video[s] to weaken the administration candidates for the Otso Diretso to land seats in the Senate,” Paras added.
Paras, a lawyer, said he would file a complaint against the personalities behind the videos.
The camp of Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo said the vice president was not involved in the release of a series of videos linking some members of the Duterte family to the illegal drug trade.
Photos showing Rodel Jayme with Robredo and other candidates who ran in the national elections in 2016 surfaced on social media after the former was arrested early this week.
Barry Gutierrez, Robredo’s spokesman, said detractors of the vice president mounted a smear campaign by spreading rumors that Jayme had worked for her.
“Malinaw na paninira na naman ito. Ayon sa kwentong ipinipilit ibenta kasabay ng photo, si VP Leni daw ang nasa likod ng pagkilos nitong si Jayme. Para sa kalinawan ng lahat: walang Rodel Jayme na nagtatrabaho para sa OVP o kay VP Leni (This is a smear campaign. Based on stories that are being peddled along with the photos, VP Leni is behind Jayme. For the information of the public, Rodel Jayme is not working for the OVP or for VP Leni),” Gutierrez said in a statement on Friday.
He added that Jayme could have been one of the thousands of supporters who visited Robredo and posed for photos with her in 2016.
Otso Diretso candidate and human rights lawyer Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno said Jayme should undergo fair trial and investigation on the issue.
“Korte Suprema na ang nagsabi na hindi pwedeng parusahan ang isang tao dahil sa simpleng pag-share lang kung dadaan sa tamang proseso, titingnan ng korte ang mga video ni Bikoy at kikilatisin kung katotohanan ang mga pinapakita diyan (The Supreme Court ruled that a person cannot be punished for simply sharing a video. If the proper process is observed, the court should examine the authenticity of Bikoy’s videos),” he said.
Trillanes on Friday cautioned Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra to slow down on his crackdown on “whistleblowers” linking members of the Duterte family to illegal drugs lest he, himself, be suspected of protecting drug lords.
“ Secretary Guevarra must first investigate and disprove the allegations of [dismissed police] Col. [Eduardo] Acierto and Bikoy before he could say that their statements are untrue,” said Trillanes in a statement.
WITH WILLIAM B.DEPASUPIL, JAVIER JOE ISMAEL AND GLEA JALEA
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