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Trillanes admits meeting with Advincula but says he did not give him much attention


Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Monday said that Peter Joemel Advincula had approached him, claiming to be able to expose a drug syndicate, but that he did not take Advincula up on his offer as the latter did not pass their vetting process.

Advincula claims to be the individual calling himself "Bikoy" in a series of anti-Duterte videos posted on YouTube and social media earlier this year.

“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 in a privilege speech, in which he also declared that he had no hand in the "Ang Totoong Narcolist" videos.

He said the priests went back to him early this year to provide documents.

“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 said.

He said that because of the documents, the priests had been receiving death threats on their phones.

Trillanes added that he had the documents validated by media outlets, investigative journalists and other entities, both foreign and local.

“They said the validation process might take a while but if the account details are accurate, the money trail could be traced...Ang sabi naman nila ay ire-report na lang nila ito sa publiko pag ito ay nakumpirma na,” he said.

The senator said he talked to Bikoy to clarify details of his statement and advised the priests to wait for the result of the validation of the documents.

He said he was abroad for a series of speaking engagements when the "Ang Totoong Narcolist" videos started appearing, and that Senate records could bear him out.

“Uulitin ko, wala akong kinalaman sa paggawa ng mga videos na ‘yun. To my PMAer upperclassmen here, All Right, sir. 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.

Trillanes said that when Advincula finally surfaced and his colleagues at the minority bloc wanted to file a resolution, he dissuaded them from it and suggested that they let Advincula show more evidence.

“Precisely, because I still have some reservations regarding his revelations. My fellow members of the minority can attest to this fact,” he said.

He said Bikoy was not the first person who approached his office to offer an exposé, as in 2017, a woman went to them claiming to have information about illegal drugs. She also failed their vetting process.

The senator said he stands by his track record that if a witness, evidence, or accusation is 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,” he said.

He said the fact that he did not present Advincula in the Senate means that the supposed "Bikoy" failed the vetting process.

Trillanes added that he does not blame the priests, who believed and trusted Advincula because it is in their nature to give shelter to people.

“Sa kabutihan ng kanilang puso at magandyang layunin, nagbigay sila ng sanktuwaryo sa isang taong nagsasabi na nanganganib ang kanyang buhay. As shepherds of Christ, that is their ministry. Hindi lang nila siguro na-expect na meron pa ring tao na susuklian ang kanilang kabutihan ng isang kataksilan,” he said.

Advincula has since retracted his statements against President Rodrigo Duterte and his family and instead accused Trillanes and the Liberal Party of a supposed plot to bring down the administration. —KBK/BM, GMA News

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