Trillanes admits meeting with Advincula through priests: 'Pero nakulangan ako sa detalye, isinantabi ko na lang'

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV (Photo: Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)



Outgoing Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Monday said that Peter Joemel Advincula had approached him, affirming to be able to expose a drug syndicate, but he did not take Advincula seriously on his offer as he has not yet been scrutinized thoroughly.

Advincula recently surrendered to the authorities, and claimed to be the individual known as "Bikoy" in a series of anti-Duterte videos posted on YouTube and social media.



“Una nang inilapit sa akin ng mga pari si Bikoy August last year dahil siya daw ay papatayin ng sindikato ng illegal na droga. Pinakinggan ko siya pero nakulangan ako at naguluhan sa mga detalye kaya isinantabi ko at tuluyan nang kinalimutan ang usapang ito,” Trillanes stated in a privilege speech, where he also denied that he had participation in the "Ang Totoong Narcolist" Bikoy videos.

Trillanes also claimed that priests had been receiving death threats because of Bikoy’s documents.

“Sometime in February, 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 added.

Trillanes added that he had asked media outlets, investigative journalists and other entities both foreign and local to validate the said documents.
“They said the validation process might take a while but if the account details are accurate, the money trail could be traced...Ang sabi naman nila ay ire-report na lang nila ito sa publiko pag ito ay nakumpirma na,” he said.


The senator said he spoke to Advincula to straighten out details of his statement and advised the priests to wait for the result of the validation of the documents.
He said he was out of the country to attend series of speaking engagements when the "Ang Totoong Narcolist" videos started surfacing, and that Senate records could verify that.
“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 added.
Trillanes said that when Advincula finally appeared and his colleagues at the minority bloc, they wanted to file a resolution, he discouraged them from it and suggested that they let Advincula provide more evidence.
“Precisely, because I still have some reservations regarding his revelations. My fellow members of the minority can attest to this fact,” he said.
The Senator said Bikoy was not just the first person who came to his office with an expose, just like in 2017, a woman also claimed to have information about illegal drugs.
Trillanes stressed that he sticks to his track record that if a witness, evidence, or accusation is true, he would expose it in public and swear by it.
“Mabigat ang prosesong pinagdadaanan ng mga prospective witnesses na lumalapit sa amin kasi kapag hindi katotohanan ang ilalabas ng mga ito ay madali silang gibain ng mga tanong ng mga senador,” Trillanes said
He explained that since he did not present Advincula in the Senate means he did not pass the vetting process.
Trillanes also cannot blame the priests, who believed in Advincula.
“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 mentioned.

Advincula recently held a press conference where he retracted his statements against President Rodrigo Duterte and his family and instead accused Trillanes and the Liberal Party were behind the supposed plot to bring down the administration. 



Source: GMA Network

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