'Bikoy' convicted of perjury

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 24) — Peter Joemel Advincula has been convicted by a Manila court two years after his arrest for committing perjury against former senatorial candidates Jose Manuel "Chel" Diokno and Lorenzo "Erin" Tañada, and former Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te.

"The court finds accused Peter Joemel Advincula guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of perjury," the decision of Manila Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 17 said.

Tañada shared a copy of the decision on his Twitter page on Wednesday, showing the penalty for the person also known as "Bikoy" is "three months and one day of arresto mayor as minimum, up to one year and one day of prison correccional as maximum."

Advincula's camp has not given a statement on the court's decision.

Advincula falsely claimed Diokno, Tañada, and former Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te were part of "Project Sodoma" which was a supposed plot to oust former President Rodrigo Duterte in 2019.

Advincula alleged there was a meeting at the Ateneo de Manila University to discuss the ouster, where he supposedly met all the three men.

The three filed charges against Advincula for perjury, adding they never met him.

In 2021, the Department of Justice said Advincula's claim was a lie as Diokno and Tañada were at the university for an event related to the senatorial elections. Te only met Advincula after he received a message that someone wanted legal assistance.

Advincula has also claimed he was the person behind a series of videos called "Ang Totoong Narco list" which alleged that the Duterte family has ties to illegal drug syndicates.

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.