PNP dares people behind viral video to show proof

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) has challenged those behind the viral “Totoong Narcolist” videos to come out and present their evidence instead of just making allegations on social media.

“You can always accuse anybody anytime, any day, anywhere on social media, but if they have accusations like that, they should bring out evidence and maybe we can even help [them] file a case against the people accused,” Police Gen. Oscar Albayalde, PNP chief, told reporters on Monday.

The videos — featuring “Bikoy” who claimed to be a former drug syndicate member — accused people close to President Rodrigo Duterte, including his son — former Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte — and former Special Assistant to the President and now senatorial candidate Christopher “Bong” Go, of receiving kickbacks in the narcotics trade.

Timing is suspect

Though Albayalde admitted he had yet to watch all the videos, he dismissed what he had seen so far, saying: “Things like that are very self-serving, and this is… election time, so the timing is highly questionable.”

He also scoffed at claims — first propagated by opposition Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, and now also in the videos — that Paolo Duterte had a dragon tattoo on his back proving his membership in a drug syndicate.

“It’s the first time I’ve heard of such dragon tattoos. Many people get dragon tattoos just because they want to. It’s a symbol of authority, strength, machismo… [But] I don’t know any [group] with dragon tattoos as [a sign of membership],” he said.

Albayalde added that President Duterte had paid no mind to the viral videos.

Cops tracking down source

The police have taken the initiative to look for the possible source of the videos, he said, although he admitted that no one had filed a complaint about these so far.

Albayalde said that if the people behind the videos were identified and could not produce any evidence about their claims, they could be slapped with cyberlibel complaints.