MANILA, Philippines — Mere allegations. Black propaganda. Malicious and false accusations.
These were the reactions of the head of the country’s lead agency on antinarcotics law enforcement, the presidential spokesperson and a resort in Albay province to statements on Monday of Peter Joemel Advincula, who claims he is the drug syndicate member-turned-whistleblower “Bikoy.”
In viral videos, Bikoy accused people close to the President and various politicians of involvement in the illegal drug trade.
“The statements of ‘Bikoy,’ as far as the PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) is concerned, are mere allegations,” said PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo was more scathing, dismissing the claims of Bikoy or Advincula as mere black propaganda against the government.
In a TV interview, Panelo said he expected government agencies to file charges against those behind the viral videos if they indeed violated the country’s laws.
Advincula surfaced at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines headquarters in Pasig City on Monday to seek legal aid in filing cases against those Bikoy had accused of being drug syndicate members in the viral videos.
In the videos, Bikoy is the hooded narrator who detailed the alleged operations of a narcotics syndicate composed of the “Davao Group” and the “Quadrangle Group” in Bicol region.
Davao, Quadrangle groups
The Davao Group allegedly involved President Rodrigo Duterte’s son Paolo, former presidential aide and now senatorial candidate Christopher “Bong” Go and the President’s son-in-law, Manases Carpio, among other people.
The Quadrangle Group included Camarines Norte Gov. Edgardo Tallado, Albay Rep. Fernando Gonzalez, former Camarines Sur Rep. Luis R. Villafuerte, Catanduanes Gov. Joseph Cua, Sorsogon provincial board member Krunimar Escudero, and business people Elizaldy Co, Thomas Enrile and Tess Rañola.
File complaint
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra challenged Advincula to file a criminal complaint against the President’s family.
“This guy who says that he is ‘Bikoy’ should now go to the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) and file his complaint, if he has sufficient evidence against members of the first family,” Guevarra told reporters on Monday.
Shortly after Bikoy came out in the open, Go and reelectionist Sen. Bam Aquino of the opposition Otso Diretso briefly engaged in a verbal tussle in Calamba City, stealing the thunder from the launch of a tree-planting project.
Advincula claimed he had seen Go’s dragon tattoo on his back since he himself had “scanned” the tattoo that supposedly contained “codes” of Go’s membership in the Chinese triad.
Asked to comment on Advincula’s claim, a visibly irate Go again took off his shirt in front of journalists to disprove the accusation against him.
Go was invited to the press conference arranged by Senate President Vicente Sotto III and the environmental party-list group Luntiang Pilipinas.
“I will again remove my shirt. Look [at my back] closely. I will be doing this for the last time. Otherwise, I will look like a fool if I do this for a third time,” Go said.
After showing that he did not have a tattoo, Go approached Aquino, telling him: “Sen. Bam Aquino, look at it.”
“I don’t want to touch it,” a smiling Aquino replied.
But Go went on to taunt Aquino as he urged voters to vote for the opposition candidates if they believed the allegations of Advincula.
Asked if he was accusing the opposition of being behind Advincula, Go said: “I’m not directly accusing them … We are not used to politicking and the use of black propaganda.”
To which Aquino replied: “It’s not true that your group is not into the use of black propaganda. You have been spreading black propaganda against us for the past three years.”
In a bid to dissipate the verbal exchange, reelectionist Sen. Nancy Binay, told them: “You have been speaking about black propaganda. But I’m the only ‘black’ here.”
For its part, the management of Misibis Bay Resort in Albay said it would file cyberlibel charges against Advincula for maliciously implicating the resort and its owners in the drug trade.
Misibis is owned by businessman Elizaldy Co.
Validating identity
In a statement on Monday, Police Col. Bernard Banac, spokesperson for the Philippine National Police, said the police would still continue to investigate Advincula’s identity.
Banac said Advincula still needed to substantiate his claims and “convince the Filipino people that he is worth listening to. Otherwise, he is just wasting our time with his fantastic tale.”
The Department of Justice, meanwhile, said it would charge Rodel Jayme on Tuesday with inciting to sedition for creating a website that shared the Bikoy videos. —REPORTS FROM JAYMEE T. GAMIL, MARLON RAMOS, DONA Z. PAZZIBUGAN AND JULIE M. AURELIO