Senator Antonio Trillanes IV admitted during his privilege speech on Monday that he already met Peter Joemel Advincula, alias Bikoy by the help of some priests who introduced the self-proclaimed whistleblower to him.
However, Trillanes denied that he’s involved in the production of the “Bikoy” videos which published to accuse the family of President Rodrigo Duterte and its allies of being involved in illegal businesses.
The Senator said that he’s already doubting Bikoy during their first meeting.
“Una nang inilapit sa akin ng mga pari si Bikoy August last year. Pinakinggan ko siya pero nakulangan ako at naguluhan sa mga detalye kaya isinantabi ko at tuluyan nang kinalimutan ang usapang ito,” Trillanes said.
However, the priests came back to him to provide him several documents that would prove the statements of Bikoy.
He also refused to name the priests who met him.
“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.
According to him, he asked Bikoy and the priests to give him time to validate the documents.
To prove that his innocence, he also pointed out that he was out of the country when the “Ang Totoong Narco-list” was published on the internet.
“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 he also understood the priests who gave their time to assist Advincula, saying that it’s their role to help the people in need.
“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.
Last week, Advincula pinned Trillanes in the production of the said videos, saying that he talked to the Senator several times.
Aside from Trillanes, Advincula also mentioned Sen. Risa Hontiveros and members of the Liberal Party.