PETER Joemel Advincula, who claimed to be “Bikoy,” the narrator of the series of videos “Ang Totoong Narco-list,” is no longer under the protective custody of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), an official said Tuesday, June 25.
PNP spokesperson Colonel Bernard Banac said Advincula left the CIDG custody two weeks ago.
He said before leaving, Advincula issued a written affidavit on his allegations against outgoing Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and the Liberal Party over their alleged involvement in a destabilization plot against President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Mister advincula is free, so he is out and not in the custody ng PNP. Every now and then, kapag may karagdagang katanungan sa kanya ay tinatawagan sya at ma-verify ‘yung kanyang statement. So sa ngayon, ongoing pa rin ang validation ng kanyang mga statement at katulad nung sinabi natin nung una, hindi naman natin pinaniniwalaan of course ‘yung kanyang lahat ng mga sinasabi,” he said.
“Kailangan muna mapatunayan na may ebidensya ang kanyang mga allegations. So well, malaking step na yun nagkaroon na sya ng statement aided by his counsel. So marami pa tayong sasaliksikin doon sa mga statements nya,” he added.
Banac said Advincula has not requested for any security protection from the PNP despite his earlier statements that he and his family were receiving death threats after he surfaced.
Advincula was earlier placed under protective custody by the PNP-CIDG after he implicated Trillanes, one of the administration’s staunch critics, as well as the opposition party as the brains behind the “Ang Totoong Narcolist videos,” which tagged Duterte’s son Paolo, the husband of Duterte’s daughter Sara, Manases Carpio, Christopher Lawrence Go and Duterte’s partner Honeylet Avancena on illegal drug operations.
On May 6, Advincula surfaced before the office of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) where he sought for legal assistance in order to file charges against the people he tagged in the series of videos.
However, on May 23, Advincula, who then has a standing arrest warrant over estafa, surrendered to the PNP and recanted all his earlier statements. He then tagged Trillanes and the Liberal Party as behind the series of videos, which aim to discredit the administration and unseat Duterte. (SunStar Philippines)