The Philippine National Police (PNP) announced today that Peter Advincula, the self-confessed star of the controversial Ang Totoong Narco List (“The Real Narco List”) videos, is back in police custody — this time to undergo investigations for a number of controversial claims he made against government officials during a recent press conference.
Major General Amador Corpus, chief of the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said today that Advincula surrendered once again to the police on Monday last week: “He (Advincula) is under police custody. He voluntarily surrendered himself and requested protective custody. He’s now under investigation,” said Corpus.
The first time that Advincula surrendered to the police — and subsequently posted bail — was two weeks ago, after he was charged with six counts of fraud in Baguio City because he allegedly failed to give prizes that were promised to the winners of a beauty pageant that he organized.
Before posting bail for those charges, Advincula appeared in a press conference at the PNP’s Quezon City headquarters, during which he addressed his alleged involvement in the production of the now-viral Ang Totoong Narco List videos.
During that press conference, Advincula alleged that several opposition lawmakers and groups were behind the production of the videos, which were intended to discredit and overthrow President Rodrigo Duterte.
In the video series, a hooded man with the alias “Bikoy” — whom Advincula has since asserted is, in fact, him — accuses several personalities from Duterte’s camp of benefitting from the country’s illegal drug trade, and that these officials are personally receiving millions of pesos from drug syndicates. The videos identify Congressman Paolo Duterte, newly elected Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, and Manases Carpio — the husband of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte — as those officials.
During the same public appearance, Advincula specifically named Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Risa Hontiveros as the officials who hired him to portray the Bikoy character, allegedly because they hoped to create enough of a public backlash that Vice President Leni Robredo would be able to replace Duterte.
According to Advincula, he met regularly with the lawmakers in meetings conducted at the De La Salle University (DLSU) in Malate and at the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) in Quezon City. However, all politicians whom Advincula name-dropped during his statement have since denied the allegations of having had such meetings or plans with him.
Advincula also added that he believed the allegations which were made in the Ang Totoong Narco List videos were, in actuality, lies.
PNP chief General Oscar Albayalde said today that his department is currently investigating all claims Advincula made during that press conference.
“Everything which Bikoy said will all be validated,” said Albayalde. “All the names that he mentioned will be part of the investigation. Even Bikoy will be part of the investigation… We are not saying that he could become a witness or a suspect. It’s up to the court to decide if Bikoy will be a witness or if he’s a suspect.”
Albayalde added that Advincula surrendered his mobile phone — which he allegedly used to communicate with Trillanes’ group — as well as the central processing unit of his desktop computer. The PNP has also contacted AdMU and DLSU to ask them for copies of their CCTV footage to check if Advincula’s meetings with Trillanes and his group really took place in those schools.
Advincula first went public on May 6 at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines’ (IBP) office in Pasig City. At that time, he was still sticking to the original allegations made in Ang Totoong Narco List, and asked the IBP for help because he wanted to file drug-related charges against Congressman Paolo, Carpio, and Senator Go. The IBP, however, denied to offer him legal aid.
