Man who claimed to be 'Bikoy' ordered arrested for perjury
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 20) — Peter Joemel Advincula, who claimed to be the hooded figure named "Bikoy" in a series of videos linking President Rodrigo Duterte and his family to the illegal drug trade, has been ordered arrested for lying in court, a warrant stated.
Advincula's bail is set at ₱18,000, according to the Jan. 18 arrest warrant issued by the Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 17 in Manila.
The order comes after the Department of Justice accused Advincula of committing perjury for falsely claiming that former senatorial candidates Jose Manuel "Chel" Diokno and Lorenzo "Erin" Tañada, as well as former Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te were members of 'Project Sodoma', a supposed ouster plot against Duterte two years ago.
Advincula earlier mentioned an alleged meeting at the Ateneo De Manila University among opposition members to discuss the ouster, but the DOJ has resolved that this was an "outright lie" since Diokno and Tañada were there for a different event related to the senatorial elections. Meanwhile, Te only met Advincula after he received a message that someone wanted legal assistance.
"Respondent Advincula's statement against the complainants cannot be believed considering that there was no clear-cut involvement of the complainants in 'Project Sodoma'," the DOJ resolution stated.
Diokno, Tañada, and Te's complaint also accused Advincula of false testimony and a certain P/Col. Arnold Ibay of perjury, but these charges were dropped since Advincula's statements were not entirely false given that some have been indicted for sedition based on his allegations. Ibay was also cleared of perjury and false testimony since the statements he endorsed to the DOJ were only made by Advincula.
It can be recalled that in 2019, several controversial videos in a series entitled "Ang Totoong Narco list" surfaced, alleging the Duterte family has ties to illegal drug syndicates. Advincula later reached out to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and publicly claimed he was the man speaking in the videos while asserting the veracity of their content. He requested for legal assistance from the IBP but was denied after "thorough evaluation of his application."
Advincula later backtracked and instead pointed fingers at the opposition for crafting the script of allegations against Duterte as part of the 'Project Sodoma' ouster plot.
Advincula and ten others, including former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, were later charged with conspiracy to commit sedition for "inflicting libelous imputations" against Duterte. These same charges against Vice President Leni Robredo and 25 other members of the opposition were dismissed.
