‘Bikoy’ found guilty of perjury

MANILA, Philippines — A Manila court found the man known as “Bikoy,” who accused three human rights lawyers of plotting to oust then president Rodrigo Duterte, guilty of perjury.

In an order dated yesterday, Manila Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 17 Judge Karla Funtila-Abugan sentenced Peter Joemel Advincula to serve a minimum of three months and one day to a maximum of one year and one day in prison.

The charge was filed in February 2020 by Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno and Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada III, members of the 2019 opposition senatorial slate Otso Diretso, as well as former Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te. They are all members of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), a nationwide organization of human rights lawyers.

According to photos of the 16-page decision that Tañada posted on his Twitter account, the court said Advincula tagged them as members of “Project Sodoma,” an alleged plot to oust Duterte through “sedition, inciting to sedition, libel, cyber libel, estafa, harboring a criminal and obstruction of justice.”

The three lawyers said that Advincula, who was behind the “Ang Totoong Narco-list” viral videos, “(knew) fully well that said material statement was false, thereby making a willfully deliberate assertion of falsehood.”

In the videos, which went viral in 2019, Advincula alleged that Duterte’s family members were involved in the illegal drug trade.

Funtila-Abugan did not award moral damages the three lawyers demanded from Advincula for defaming them, saying there is no sufficient basis to award nominal damages.

“The prosecution’s evidence primarily sought to establish the elements of the crime of perjury and not the legal rights of the private complainants that were violated as a result of the criminal act of the accused,” she declared.

Along with photos of the decision, Tañada wrote in the first of a series of tweets,” “Bikoy guilty!!!”

According to earlier reports, Advincula alleged Tañada, Diokno and Te met in March and May 2019 to plan on overthrowing the Duterte government.

The three disputed his claims, asserting Diokno and Tañada were attending a forum at the Ateneo de Manila University.

Te admitted that he met Advincula but it was to check if he was qualified as a client for FLAG.

The Philippine National Police filed charges of conspiracy to commit sedition against dozens of public figures, including then vice president Leni Robredo, based on Advincula’s testimony before the Department of Justice.

At the end of the preliminary investigation, only 11 persons, including Advincula and former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, were charged. Robredo and the other public figures were cleared.

In November 2021, Advincula admitted to killing three candidates for local posts in Donsol, Sorsogon. The three victims were found dead in his used clothing store in Daraga, Albay. He faces charges of multiple murder.