Too soon to sue me for perjury over conspiracy claims, 'Bikoy' says

MANILA, Philippines — Peter Joemel Advincula, also known as Bikoy, said Tuesday that the perjury complaint filed against him is premature without a court determination that he made false statements related to sedition raps filed against people associated with the political opposition.

Lawyers Jose Manuel "Chel" Diokno, Lorenzo "Erin" Tañada III and Theodore Te—members of the Free Legal Assistant Group and who were named respondents in complaints based on Advincula's affidavit claiming a plot to discredit President Rodrigo Duterte—filed a perjury complaint against Advincula in September.

"These ill-willed slew of malicious and baseless accusations against us has also forced us to take time off from our clients and impaired our ability to attend to their concerns, thus adversely affecting the income we earn from the honest practice of our profession," they said then.

In his counter-affidavit, Advincula said "whether the facts I alleged in my Affidavit-Complaint are true and were only deliberate assertions of falsehood are evidentiary in nature."

He said that can only be determined when the complaint, which is currently under investigation by the Department of Justice, is brought to court.

"The veracity of the truthfulness of my testimony and statements will rest within the jurisdiction of the courts... Thus, this present complaint will compromise the resolution of the [sedition complaints]," he also said.

Advincula claimed the complaint by the FLAG lawyers "is a vain attempt to [mislead] or [confuse] the authorities in the investigation of the case."

RELATED: The shifting narratives on the 'Bikoy' videos, according to Peter Advincula

'Bikoy' videos

Advincula, who claims to be the narrator "Bikoy" in a series of anonymously-posted videos accusing President Rodrigo Duterte and his allies of drug ties, initially stood by the claims made in the videos.

He recanted in a press conference at the Philippine National Police headquarters and said the videos were part of a conspiracy against the president.

According to sedition and other criminal complaints that police filed based on an affidavit executed by Advincula, there was a plot "to spread false information against President Duterte’s family and administration officials in order to agitate the general population into making mass protest with the possibility of bringing down the president from the position and allow Vice President Robredo to instantly succeed."

Aside from the FLAG lawyers, also named in the complaint filed with the Department of Justice were Vice President Leni Robredo, Senators Leila de Lima and Risa Hontiveros, and former senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Paolo Benigno Aquino IV.

RELATED: DOJ starts probe into sedition raps vs Robredo, others