Bikoy controversy

After retraction, Bikoy offered legal aid by Calida

Rambo Talabong

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After retraction, Bikoy offered legal aid by Calida

LeAnne Jazul

From accusing people close to President Duterte of accepting drug money, Bikoy now alleges that Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and members of Otso Diretso are behind the Ang Totoong Narcolist videos

MANILA, Phlippines – After Peter Joemel Advincula, the man known as Bikoy, surrendered to the Philippine National Police (PNP) and retracted all his statements against the Duterte administration, Solicitor General Jose Calida offered him legal aid.

According to a police official informed of Advincula’s surrender, a text message was sent by Calida’s office offering to help Advincula deal with cases against him, and also prepare possible complaints from his new testimony.

 

A viral video series entitled Ang Totoong Narcolist made the rounds online during the election campaign period. The video series accused people close to President Rodrigo Duterte of accepting millions of pesos in drug money. The narrator in the video, hooded and silhouetted, was named “Bikoy”.

Advincula made his first public appearance identifying himself as “Bikoy” on May 6, holding a press briefing and applying for legal help at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) main office in Pasig. 

Immediately after, Calida called for the resignation of IBP president Abdiel Dan Fajardo, who appeared in the controversial press conference to explain that Advincula was received by the IBP just as anybody who comes to them for legal assistance.

Also after that IBP appearance, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Advincula approached him in 2016 and made the same allegations against the Aquino administration.

On Thursday, May 23, Advincula appeared in a new press briefing and recanted all that he said in the IBP. 

Speaking in the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, Advincula said his statement in the IBP was all “made up.” He said his allegations against the present administration were crafted by outgoing senator Antonio Trillanes IV, and members of the 2019 elections opposition senatorial slate Otso Diretso.

Advincula was supposedly promised P500,000 to appear in the viral videos and to also go to the IBP. But he added, in the end, he was not given the amount.

He escaped his handlers from “the religious sector” on Wednesday evening and surrendered to cops of the Northern Police District in Caloocan City. 

Advincula was undergoing booking procedures as of press time. He would later prepare a new testimony to recount all the information he has in detail. This time, he said, he had evidence against people behind him as he kept communications in his encrypted phone messaging applications such as Telegram, Signal and Protonmail.

According to PNP chief General Oscar Albayalde, Advincula’s testimony can lead to complaints of inciting to sedition. – Rappler.com

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Rambo Talabong

Rambo Talabong covers the House of Representatives and local governments for Rappler. Prior to this, he covered security and crime. He was named Jaime V. Ongpin Fellow in 2019 for his reporting on President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. In 2021, he was selected as a journalism fellow by the Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics.