‘Bikoy’ surfaces, seeks lawyers’ help
Credit to Author: NEIL JAYSON SERVALLOS| Date: Mon, 06 May 2019 16:18:51 +0000
A person claiming to be “Bikoy” — the hooded man in a series of online videos that accuse President Rodrigo Duterte’s family of having links to the illegal drug trade — came forward on Monday to seek help from the national organization of Philippine lawyers.
“Ako si Bikoy. Ako po ay tunay na tao at hindi kathang isip lang tulad ng sinasabi ng ibang tao (I am Bikoy. I am a real person and not a figment of the imagination as some people are saying),” Peter Joemel Advincula said in a news conference at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) office in Ortigas.
“Andito ako ngayon sa tanggapan ng Integrated Bar of the Philippines upang humingi ng legal assistance. Kailangan ko ng abogado para i-submit ang aking sinumpaang salaysay at tulungan ako magsampa ng kaso laban sa mga miyembro ng sindikato (I am hear at the IBP to seek legal assistance. I need a lawyer so I can submit my sworn testimony and help me file a case against members of the syndicate),” he added.
IBP President Abdiel Fajardo said they had not yet accepted Advincula as a client, as the organization still had to evaluate the latter’s claims.
Payoffs made
In the videos, Bikoy claimed that drug money was funneled into the bank accounts of Duterte’s son, former Davao City vice mayor Paolo “Pulong” Duterte; his son-in-law Manases “Mans” Carpio; and former aide and now Senate bet Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, among others.
Go had denied the allegations.
Advincula said he learned of their links to the drug trade after he became a marketing executive at Bicol-based company VitaPlus where his boss, Tess Rañola, reassigned him to handle payoffs.
A complaint filed by Rañola, who was named in the “Ang Totoong Narcolist” videos, led to last week’s arrest of web developer Rodel Jayme, who is facing sedition charges for allegedly uploading the clips.
Advincula said he went into hiding after Go spotted him at a new job and after a colleague warned him that his life was in danger. He also denied claims that the release of the videos was politically motivated.
“Wala akong kinalaman sa kahit sinong kandidato lalo na sa mga kandidato ng Otso Diretso o political party (I have nothing to do with any candidate, especially Otso Diretso candidates or political party),” Advincula said, referring to the eight Senate candidates fielded by the opposition for next week’s midterm elections.
He also denied knowing Jayme and said he was ready to testify to “prove that all I spilled in the series of videos were true.”
Present proof – senators
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto and Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, meanwhile, said Advincula’s claims would not automatically prompt the chamber to conduct an investigation.
“We will await his sworn statement and whatever supporting evidence he has, after which we will evaluate and proceed from there. If it merits a Senate inquiry, we definitely will conduct one,” said Lacson, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs.
“By their (IBP officials) admission, they haven’t evaluated Bikoy’s accusations, yet they provided him their facility and a forum to air his accusations,” he added.
Sotto, on the other hand, claimed that someone with a similar surname as Advincula had approached him sometime before the 2016 presidential elections and linked then-President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd and then-Vice President Jejomar “Jojo” Binay to illegal drugs.
“If he would want the Senate to investigate, give us proof. Give us documents. Submit to us the documents,” Sotto added.
“We can have it investigated and then we will see if there is a need to call for a (public) hearing or not.”
Malacañang, meanwhile, said the persons behind the Bikoy videos should be prosecuted if found guilty of violating the law.
“We will leave it to the government agencies concerned,” Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a television interview.
“We will let the investigators do their job and if they may find any evidence… then they have to prosecute the person,” he added.
“As far as we are concerned, the video is a black propaganda against the government. The tattoo he claimed was on the back of Go was proven to be false. You lie in one, you lie in all. That’s it,” Panelo said.
With reports from Ralph U. Villanueva and Bernadette E. Tamayo
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