MANILA – Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV knew self-proclaimed “Bikoy” Peter Joemel Advincula’s credibility was questionable since last year as the latter failed to pass his vetting process.
During his privilege speech at the Senate, Trillanes said Advincula was brought to him by priests last year for help but he rejected him due to his confusing testimonies.
Trillanes’ revelation about Advincula’s dubious credibility was contrary to his stand before the 2019 midterm elections wherein the former even called for the latter’s protection due to Advincula’s accusations against President Rodrigo Duterte and his family.
“Una nang inilapit sa akin ng mga pari si ‘Bikoy’ August last year dahil siya daw ay papatayin ng sindikato ng illegal na droga. Pinakinggan ko siya pero nakulangan ako at naguluhan sa mga detalye kaya isinantabi ko at tuluyan nang kinalimutan ang usapang ito,” Trillanes said.
“Sometime in Feburary, binalikan ako ng mga pari at binigyan ng mga dokumento na naglalaman ng mga detalye ng bank account ng mga lider ng sindikato. Galing ito sa mga kasamahan ni ‘Bikoy’ na miyembro ng sindikato,” he added.
Trillanes denied knowledge about Bikoy’s “Ang Totoong Narcolist” videos as he was out of the country for a series of speaking engagements when it was uploaded online.
“Uulitin ko, wala akong kinalaman sa paggawa ng mga videos na ‘yun. Malamang siya rin ang gumawa ng mga video na ‘yan. To be fair, maganda nga po ang pagkakagawa ni ‘Bikoy’ ng mga video at nakakuha ito ng atensyon ng publiko,” he said.
He said “Bikoy” was not the first person who approached his office to offer a dubious exposé as he stood by his track record that if a witness, evidence, or accusation was true, he would make it public and swear by it.
“Mabigat ang prosesong pinagdadaanan ng mga prospective witnesses na lumalapit sa amin kasi kapag hindi katotohanan ang ilalabas ng mga ito ay madali silang gibain ng mga tanong ng mga senador,” said Trillanes. /PN
