Senator Antonio Trillanes IV strongly denied yesterday that he connived with Peter Advincula (aka Bikoy) to overthrow President Rodrigo Duterte but admitted that he met the self-confessed star of the Ang Totoong Narco List (The Real Narco List) videos in 2018.
In a privileged speech delivered at the Senate yesterday, Trillanes said that Advincula sought his help in August 2018 because the latter said his life was threatened by members of a drug syndicate. However, Trillanes said he ignored Advincula because he thought there were loopholes in his story, ABS-CBN News reported.
“Bikoy was first introduced to me by priests in August last year,” said Trillanes in a mix of English and Filipino. “According to them (priests), Bikoy sought sanctuary with them because he was receiving death threats from members of an illegal drug syndicate. I listened to what he said but there were loopholes in what he said and the details he gave were confusing, so I put it aside until I forgot all about him.”
Trillanes also said that while he finds Duterte the “worst” president in the country’s history, he was not part of any plans to oust the latter from the presidency, reported Rappler.
The senator added that in February, the same group of priests went back to him and provided him with documents which they alleged were bank accounts of members of a drug syndicate that Advincula knew, reported The Philippine Star.
However, Trillanes allegedly told the group to wait for a third party to validate the authenticity of the documents. The documents are still being validated and Trillanes said that it could take a while before the process is completed.
Trillanes said he was abroad for a series of speaking events when Ang Totoong Narco List came out. He also reiterated that he had nothing to do with the videos.
“I repeat, I have nothing to do with those videos,” he said.
Advincula surrendered to the police on Wednesday and backtracked on his allegations, saying that all the information presented in Ang Totoong Narco List were false.
Prior to his surrender, Advincula first surfaced at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines’ (IBP) office in Pasig City on May 6, saying that he was Bikoy, the hooded man in the videos who accused presidential son Congressman Paolo Duterte, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte’s husband Manases Carpio, and newly elected Senator Christopher “Bong” Go of receiving millions of pesos from the drug trade.
He asked for legal aid from the IBP so he could sue Paolo, Carpio, and Go for drug-related charges, but the IBP refused to provide it to him.
While taking back what he said in the videos last week, Advincula alleged that Trillanes, Senator Risa Hontiveros, the staff of jailed Senator Leila de Lima, members of the Magdalo party-list, and religious groups connived with him to create the viral videos, which allegedly had the objective of removing Duterte from the presidency.
Advincula alleged that the group did this so Vice President Leni Robredo could become president, and Trillanes could become the vice president. He said he agreed to play the character of Bikoy in the video because the group allegedly promised him money and a government position.
Advincula posted bail on Saturday in connection with fraud charges previously filed against him for a different case. He’s currently free and members of the police said they have no idea where he went after leaving Camp Crame in Quezon City, reported ABS-CBN News.
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