Court orders arrest of ‘Bikoy’ over false statements vs. FLAG lawyers

A Manila court has ordered the arrest of Peter Joemel Adivincula, the man otherwise known as Bikoy, for perjury over his allegedly false statements against the members of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG).

The Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 17 set bail at P18,000.

Prosecutors accused Advincula of making "untruthful statements" under oath when he claimed that lawyers Jose Manuel "Chel" Diokno, Lorenzo "Erin" Tañada III and former Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te were part of a plot seeking to oust President Rodrigo Duterte.

GMA News Online has reached out to Advincula's camp but has it yet to reply as of posting time. 

The perjury charge was brought to court on January 11, more than a year since Diokno, Tañada, and Te filed a complaint against Advincula and Police Colonel Arnold Thomas Ibay.

The complaint is an offshoot of the sedition complaint filed by the Philippine National Police - Criminal Investigation and Detection Group against opposition figures, including Vice President Leni Robredo, for their alleged involvement in an oust-Duterte plot.

Prosecutors eventually dismissed most of the allegations but filed charges for conspiracy to commit sedition against former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, Advincula, and nine others.

In the perjury complaint, the FLAG lawyers said Advincula falsely tagged them as members of a supposed anti-Duterte plot called "Project Sodoma."

Agreeing with the complainants, the investigating prosecutor said Diokno and Tañada attended a senatorial forum at the Ateneo de Manila University on the day Advincula claimed they were planning for "Project Sodoma."

"Moreover, the complaint does not even specify their participation in the commission of any of the crimes charged against them. As far as complainants Diokno and Tañada are concerned, the allegation of respondent Advincula against them is bereft of truth," Assistant State Prosecutor Ferdinand Fernandez wrote in his resolution.

In the case of Te, Fernandez said that Te only met with Advincula because he had received a message under FLAG that a person wanted to ask for legal help.

Te said he was unaware that Advincula was "Bikoy," the figure who appeared in a series of videos accusing Duterte's family of drug links.

The complaint against Ibay was dismissed.

The resolution was approved by Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento. — RSJ, GMA News