Senator Panfilo Lacson responded on the decision of Peter Joemel “Bikoy” Advincula to testify in an investigation of the Senate after the elections.

In his tweet, Lacson already said that he’s going to let Bikoy reveal all the information he knew about the alleged illegal businesses of the Duterte family and his close allies like senatorial candidate Christopher “Bong” Go.

However, Lacson explained that Bikoy should be there personally carrying “a sworn statement and his evidence to support his accusations”.

He set the Senate probe on Friday, May 10, two days before the midterm elections.

Like it or not, Bikoy has become a political, if not an election issue. The Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs can schedule a hearing this week on one condition: Bikoy must personally present a sworn statement and his evidence to support his accusations.

— PING LACSON (@iampinglacson) May 7, 2019

However, Bikoy reasoned that he cannot attend on Friday because he’s doesn’t have any lawyer that can defend him in the said probe.

According to him, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) is still not informing him if they’re going to give him free legal assistance. He’s also worried that the authorities might seize him on Friday.

In his latest tweet, Lacson said that Bikoy cannot order the committee to change their probe schedule.

“On Bikoy’s decision to testify after elections: He cannot dictate on the committee. Truth is never time bound. If he can’t be spontaneous, the only logical conclusion is he has not yet weaved his lies.” Lacson said.

On Bikoy’s decision to testify after elections: He can not dictate on the committee. Truth is never time bound. If he can’t be spontaneous, the only logical conclusion is he has not yet weaved his lies.

— PING LACSON (@iampinglacson) May 7, 2019

According to some reports, Lacson already asked his colleagues, Senators Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan 2nd, Mary Grace Poe, Loren Legarda, Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay, Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao, Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, Antonio Trillanes 4th, and detained Leila de Lima and ex-officio members Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migs” Zubiri and Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon to attend.

But Lacson is still doing some background check on Bikoy so they still need to push with the hearing.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed a law making some of the certificates and clearances required in applying to work as free of charges if you’re a fresh graduate.

According to the Republic Act, 11261 or the “First Time Job Seekers Assistance Act” newly graduated Filipinos is not required to pay fees in government agencies if they wanted to get clearances or certificates from them if they’re seeking for work.

Some of the documents before costs the newly grads hundreds of pesos each.

This is the list of certificates and clearances you can get for free:

• Police clearance certificate
• National Bureau of Investigation clearance
•  Barangay clearance
•  Medical certificate from a public hospital
•  Birth certificate
•  Marriage certificate
•  Transcript of academic records issued by state colleges and universities
•  Tax Identification Number (TIN)
•  Unified Multi-Purpose ID (UMID) card
•  Other documentary requirements issued by the government that may be required by employers for job applicants

Senator Joel Villanueva who’s the principal author of the bill expressed his happiness over the decision of President Duterte to sign it as a law.

“We warmly welcome the signing of our bill into law as this will financially aid our youth in finding employment. Ang pagsasabatas po ng ating First-time Jobseekers Assistance Act ay hindi lamang isang malaking tulong pinansyal para sa ating kabataan kundi isa ring napapanahong graduation gift para sa ating masisipag na fresh grads.” Villanueva said.

“Lubos po tayong nagpapasalamat sa ating Pangulo sa paglagda ng natatanging batas na ito gayundin po sa ating mga kapwa mambabatas na sinuportahan ang ating adbokasiya na tulungan ang ating kabataan sa paghahanap ng disenteng trabaho,” he added.

According to data, job applicants spent 2,000 pesos for employment requirements alone and still not included the food and transportation expenses.

Vice Mayor Paolo “Pulong” Duterte, one of the accused on “Ang Totoong Narco-list” video series reacted on the public appearance of Peter Jomel Advincula who claimed that he’s “Bikoy.”

In a Facebook post, Duterte downplayed the credibility of Advincula, saying that he’s a known scammer during the past and now hired as an “actor” by the people who wanted to tarnish his image.

He challenged Advincula and one of his fiercest critic Senator Antonio Trillanes IV to charge him in the court.

“Mula sa pagiging kilalang scammer, ngayon ay certified na na artista itong taong nagpakilalang Bikoy.” Pulong said.

“Ganito. Puro satsat. Panay drama. Mag-sampa ka ng kaso. Sasagutin kita. Haharapin kita. Isama mo rin si Trillanes.” he added.

Pulong also criticized the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) for believing the credibility of Advincula who’s considered as a Most Wanted man in his province before.

He said that he lost his respect to IBP who’s known for having intelligent members after believing a man like Advincula.

“Nakakawala ng respeto ang IBP. Mga abogado kayo, matatalino sana kayo, pero, nakapagtataka lang na ang bilis ninyong paniwalaan ang sinasabi ng isang kilalang scammer na nagpakilalang si Bikoy.” Pulong said.

On April 6, Advincula spoke in the Integrated Bar of the Philippines asking for their legal assistance, saying that he wanted to end the illegal businesses of the Duterte family and senatorial candidate Christopher “Bong” Go.

However, netizens questions the honesty of Advincula after they found out that the latter was a known swindler in his province.

Like Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, Advincula also accused Pulong of having a tattoo at his back.

After “Bikoy” revealed himself, several netizens questioned the credibility of Peter Joemel Advincula who’s in 2012 considered as the Most Wanted Person of Naga City.

In a report by ABS CBN News in 2012, Peter Joemel Advincula surrendered to the authorities while he’s hiding in Cavite.

Advincula was in the custody of a pastor when he introduced himself to the authorities, saying that his family already cut their communication to him after what he had done in Naga City.

Bikoy was facing illegal recruitment and large scale estafa in Naga City and Albay which made him awarded the title Most Wanted.

“Natatakot ako. Sabi ko sumuko na siya, pero baka daw gumanti ang mga na-recruit niya. Lagi po siyang balisa at nag-iisip,” Advincula’s wife Marissa told ABS CBN news.

Meanwhile, in another article made by the Philippine Information Agency, victims of Advincula said that they were offered a home-based job by Bikoy.

According to the report, 200 people were victimized by Bikoy in Camarines Sur and Albay and he also collected P1,000 per his victims as a fee for a training that is going to be held in Baguio City.

It added that they even gave their laptop and cellphones to Advincula.

On Monday, May 6, 2019, Advincula claimed that he lost his freedom in 2012-2016 after signing documents as part of the order he received from his alleged former boss Maria Theresa Ranola.

When he received his liberty, Advincula said that he found a decent and honest job, however in 2018 several netizens posted about him, saying that they were victimized by Bikoy after he didn’t pay them in a pageant he organized.

Source: [1][2]

After the real Bikoy revealed himself as Peter Joemel Advincula, netizens started to investigate on the background of the whistleblower and they found out that there’s a post about him one year before he appeared in public.

Netizen Jem Honghong, on August 12, 2018, warned his friends on Facebook about Advincula, saying that she was scammed by the latter.

“Siya po si Peter Joemel Advincula. Ang eksperto sa panloloko, panggagantso at panlalamang sa kapwa tao! Ako po ang mismong biktima!  Pakikalat po ang post na ito. Maraming salamat po.” Honghong said in her post.

Source: Jem Honghong

When her friends asked what’s happening, Honghong didn’t hesitate to narrate how Advincula allegedly stole all their money.

According to Honghong, Advincula swindled the funds of a pageant where she participated held at Bicol University.

“Yung panggatos sa pageant kagbe. Kinulimbat lahat! Pati yung sa awards at sa mga nanalo. Lahat lahat pambayad sa Artista, Soundsystem, sa Event Place. Lahat lahat!” Honghong said in her post.

She also repeated the same story to her other friends who asked her about Advincula.

A netizen also tried to defend Advincula from the accusations of Honghong.

“hndi naman cia ung nang scam sainio ..na biktima nga din cia,” Abbie Buenafe told Honghong.

However, the friends of Honghong was not convinced that Advincula was innocent because the latter has gone missing before the event started.

“Kung wala siya kasalanan bakit wala siya magsimula at pagtapos ng event. At kung malinis konsensya niya bakit di siya pumunta doon sa venue at ipatigil ang pageant kung alam niya naman pala na walang perang pambayad.” Maria Jamela who’s a friend of Honghong told Buenafe.

“Ang galing po kasing mangbola kaya lahat kami napaniwala. Sobra effort yung ginawa namin para lang maging success yung event na yun.” Honghong said.

The thread was created 38 weeks before Advincula revealed himself as “Bikoy” in front of the media.

According to Advincula, he started hiding in August 2018, the same day when Honghong told her friends about the incident.

“Noong 2016, napalaya ako dahil sa good conduct allowance naisipan ko na magbagong buhay at nakahanap ako ng trabaho na legal at marangal, ngunit sa kasamaang palad sa isang pagtitipon ng aming kumpanya ay naging panauhin si Bong Go namukaan niya ako simula noon ay ginigipit na ako ng may ari ng kumpanya, hanggang sa isang araw ay sinabihan ako ng ka trabaho na mabuti ay umalis na ako dahil nanganganib na ang buhay ko,” Advincula said in a press conference held at Integrated Bar of the Philippines.

“Noong Agosto 2018, nag desisyon akong umalis at mag tago, nabuo na ang loob ko na isiwalat ang lahat ng alam ko tungkol sa sindikatong ito,” he added.

Several Otso Diretso members reacted negatively after the charismatic Catholic group El Shaddai only endorsed one of their candidates on May 4, 2019.

In a chance interview, Erin Tañada warned El Shaddai that they should explain their definition of honesty to their members or they might lose some supporters on their side.

“Ano ba ang ibig sabihin ng honesty sa kanila? Kung hindi nila maipapaliwanag yan eh baka mamaya ay mawalan rin sila ng mga supporters,” Tanada said.

Samira Gutoc who’s with Tanada during the interview also asked El Shaddai to reconsider the other members of Otso Diretso and endorse them instead of the mostly pro-government candidates that they presented to their followers.

“Pasensya na po El Shaddai, I appeal that you consider me, consider us sa Otso Diretso dahil kami po ay voice of the conscience,” Gutoc said.

Atty. Romulo Macalintal and Chel Diokno also said that despite the endorsement of El Shaddai, he’s hopeful that all Catholics and the millennials would still vote straight the Otso Diretso candidates.

“Hindi papayag ang mga katoliko na bastusin ang ating Panginoon at bastusin ang ating pananampalataya at ating kaparian,” Macalintal said.

Other Otso Diretso candidates didn’t give their opinions on being not chosen by El Shaddai in their endorsement list.

Only Bam Aquino is the only Diretso candidate that received an endorsement from El Shaddai.

The other candidates are Bong Go, Bato Dela Rosa, Cynthia Villar, Grace Poe, Imee Marcos, Nancy Binay, Koko Pimentel, Francis Tolentino, Sonny Angara, Bong Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada, JV Ejercito, and Willing Ong.

Source

Senator Antonio Trillanes on Sunday said that anonymous whistleblowers like “Bikoy” should learn on what happened to other people who openly accused President Rodrigo Duterte before revealing himself in public.

In a radio interview with dzBB, Trillanes said that he’s not planning to “force” the accusers to go out because of the possible outcomes if the government identified them.

He mentioned retired Davao City police Arthur Lascañas and Edgar Motabato who claimed that he’s a former member of DDS, who openly accused Duterte and now already hiding because of being charged.

“Mag-isip-isip siya, kung talagang seryoso siya sa alegasyon na ‘to kailangan panindigan niya but mayroong risks dito,” Trillanes said.

“Kung lalabas siya eh kailangan alamin niya ‘yung haharapin niya, kasi nakita mo ‘yung ginawa kay Lascañas, Matobato… anong ginawa sa kanila ng Senado at saka nitong si Duterte, ng administrasyon? Kinasuhan si Matobato saka si Lascañas base dun sa kanilang testimonya.” he added.

He also said that a Senate investigation cannot happen if Bikoy is not going show up in public.

“Kung hindi siya lalabas there will be no basis for a Senate investigation pero there is a basis for government agencies to pursue those leads,” Trillanes said.

Trillanes also pointed out that website administrator Rodel Jayme and Bikoy would be considered innocent on their charges if they prove themselves that they’re telling the truth in public.

“Ang tanong dito, totoo ba o hindi ang alegasyon ni Bikoy? Kasi kung totoo, anong kasalanan nitong si Jayme at si Bikoy? Diba wala? Kasi hindi krimeng magsabi ng totoo,” he said.

Meanwhile, Trillanes’ colleague Senator Panfilo Lacson urged “Bikoy” to reveal himself in public.

“Mahirap magtanong sa video. Hindi sasagot ang video,” Lacson said.

“Kung maiharap si Bikoy, ma-identify kung sino, at padala namin ng invitation o subpoena, at humarap siya roon, tatanong namin si Bikoy anong basehan ng akusasyon mo?” he added.

As of writing, the National Bureau of Investigation is still looking for the possible identity of Bikoy by the help of Jayme who said that he’s willing to help the investigators to find the people behind the videos against the Duterte family.

Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte said that she’s not planning to file charges against the uploader of “Ang Totoong Narco-list” videos on the internet.

On a text message, Inday Sara said that Rodel Jayme, the administrator of the website Metro Balita is “just a fool” and “no depth”.

Jayme was caught by the members of the National Bureau of Investigation on April 30 after they got the info that Metro Balita is one of the websites first published the videos against the Duterte family and its ally accusing them of receiving money from illegal businesses.

When asked if the other members of the Duterte family would file charges, Inday Sara said that she cannot speak for her other relatives who mentioned in the video.

Meanwhile, Jayme said that he’s willing to help the investigators to find the people behind the video, saying that he was also tricked by one of his friends to make a website.

He also apologized to Kitty Duterte, the youngest member of the Dutertes who mentioned in the video.

“President Duterte at sa buong sambayanan niya, hindi ko pinlano, wala akong idea, walang sapat na kaalaman doon sa pagpapakalat,” Jayme said.

“Humihingi po ako ng patawad sa mga tao lalo na sa pamilya ng Pangulo, lalo na menor-de-edad na anak,” he added.

Former PNP Chief and now senatorial candidate Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa has been officially endorsed by the Catholic charismatic group El Shaddai.

On May 4, El Shaddai which consisted of 8,000,000 members endorsed Dela Rosa, former special assistant to President Christopher “Bong” Go and 12 other candidates who mostly came from Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte’s Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) and one from Otso Diretso.

According to Velarde, the candidates they endorsed are not leaving them even if it’s not election season.

“Yung lumapit malapit sa’min, sa lahat ng panahon hindi lang panahon ng eleksyon.” Velarde said.

He also believed that the candidates that his group endorsed would help the Philippines to quickly solve several issues including poverty and lack of jobs.

This is the list of the senatorial candidates endorsed by El Shaddai:

• Christopher Bong Go
• Bato Dela Rosa
• Cynthia Villar
• Grace Poe
• Imee Marcos
• Nancy Binay
• Koko Pimentel
• Francis Tolentino
• Sonny Angara
• Bong Revilla
• Jinggoy Estrada
• JV Ejercito
• Bam Aquino
• Willie Ong

El Shaddai is known for endorsing candidates every election which considered as a big help of politicians running in national position.

On January 12, Dela Rosa met Velarde at an El Shaddai gathering, the retired General also got a chance to talk to its members.

Meanwhile, Dr. Willing Ong released a statement, thanking Velarde for endorsing him in the senatorial elections.

“Maraming Salamat sa El Shaddai at Brother Mike Velarde sa pag-endorse sa akin.
Sa Grand Rally ng El Shaddai at Ang Buhay Partylist. Malaking bagay po ito.” Ong said in his Facebook post.

We are still trying to get the statement of other candidates endorsed by El Shaddai.