DAVAO CITY — The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) here has distanced itself from its national chapter on the issue of “Bikoy,” following the coming out of Peter Joemel Advincula who claimed he was the hooded man in a series of videos accusing the Dutertes of alleged links to the illegal drugs trade.
IBP-Davao said Advincula’s appearance at the IBP “reeked of political agenda” as it questioned the decision of IBP national, a nonpartisan organization, for allowing itself to be the “staging area” of the “Bikoy show.”
“While the IBP Davao City chapter respects the IBP national in representing its membership on some national issues, however, Bikoy does not deserve the chapter’s support since the IBP is a non-partisan organization not established to cater to political interests,” the statement from IBP Davao on Tuesday read.
Advincula went to the IBP national office on Monday to seek legal assistance from the National Center for Legal Aide (NCLA).
IBP national president Abdiel Fajardo, however, said the group had not yet accepted Advincula as a client because they still had to evaluate the merits of his case. But the IBP Davao criticized its national chapter for allowing themselves to be used in Bikoy’s show.
IBP Davao said they were “neither privy to Bikoy’s show nor supportive of the same,” and that “the decision of IBP national does not reflect the sentiment of the membership of the (Davao) chapter as an organization.”
The statement said among the noble purposes of the Integrated Bar is to elevate the standards of the legal profession, improve the administration of justice and enable the Bar to discharge its public responsibility more effectively.
“Certainly, the decision of the present leadership of the IBP national is not in accord with the said purposes,” it said.
It added that Bikoy’s storyline was polluted and its source came from the “very mouth of an alleged suborner himself.”
IBP Davao City Chapter said it would not allow the present leadership of the IBP national to issue any statement that would politicize the organization.
The appearance of Bikoy at the IBP National office also drew the ire of former Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte who took to social media to vent his disappointment.
“IBP found Bikoy’s allegation as believable,” Duterte said, as he challenged Bikoy to file a case in court in a Facebook post on Monday. “I’m losing respect of the IBP, you’re supposed to be lawyers, but how easy it is for you to take the bait of a scammer who called himself Bikoy,” Duterte said.