MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) will validate the identity of Peter Joemel Advincula, who surfaced Monday and claimed he is “Bikoy,” the man behind the “Ang Totoong Narcolist” video series.
“The PNP will continue its investigation and validate his identity as we do not take his claim at surface level. We will ascertain his identity based on evidence, and if he is willing, he may come over either to the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) or the PNP,” Police Col. Bernard Banac, PNP spokesperson, said in a statement.
Advincula went to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) to seek legal assistance in filing cases against some of the close allies and relatives of President Rodrigo Duterte, whom he claimed in the video series were involved in the drug trade.
He also claimed that he was a former marketing executive at a company he called VitaPlus based in the Bicol region.
Banac said that if Advincula is the real “Bikoy,” his unmasking is “good for him because he just spared himself the trouble of having to hide behind the cloak of anonymity any further and allowed the opportunity to substantiate his serious accusations and convince the Filipino people that he is worth listening to.”
“Otherwise, he is just wasting our time with his fantastic tale,” said Banac.
But at any rate, Advincula “still has a lot of explaining to do for his actions and the real motive behind it,” Banac added.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Aaron Aquino, meanwhile, said he will check whether the agency’s drugs watchlist has any information about Bikoy, who earlier claimed he was a former member of a drug syndicate.
He also said that Bikoy claims remain as “mere allegations.”
“Until he submits his affidavit under oath with supporting evidence, whatever statements he made remain to [be] mere allegations,” Aquino said in a text message.
He said seeking assistance from the IBP is also part of Advincula’s rights. /ee
READ: ‘Bikoy’ unmasks himself