By Vanne Terrazola
The opposition would be able to belie the claims of Peter Joemel Advincula if they indeed did not hire him to destabilize the government.
Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III (Czar Dancel / MANILA BULLETIN)
This was according to Senate President Vicente Sotto III, who, to recall, questioned the credibility of Advincula when he was implicating President Duterte's family and allies in the illegal drug trade.
The Philippine National Police's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) on Thursday filed complaints of sedition, inciting to sedition, cyber libel, among others, against Vice President Leni Robredo and other key opposition figures for the spread of the controversial "Ang Totoong Narcolist" videos that linked Duterte to illegal drugs.
READ MORE: PNP to keep mum on sedition charges filed vs Robredo, 34 others
The complaint included the sworn statement of Advincula, who later turned the tables to opposition members and claimed that he was only tapped for an alleged attempt to overthrow the administration.
"Mapapatunayan naman nila 'yon kung wala silang kinalaman doon, na hindi sila ang nagdala sa IBP (Integrated Bar of the Philippines), sa paglabas non sa internet. Mapapatunayan naman yon kung hindi totoo, eh," Sotto told radio DWIZ.
(They would be able to prove anyway if they have no involvement, that the clergy did not bring him to the IBP, if they had a hand over its spread in the internet. They would be able to prove if those are not true.)
But Sotto, citing a source from the PNP, said the issue is not the inclusion of Advincula's statements, but whether or not the opposition actually hired him to destroy the President.
Prosecutors, he said, are "not giving weight on Bikoy's statements."
"Hindi importante 'yong mga sinasabi niya. Ang importante pinasabi sa kanya, 'yong gumamit sa kanya...Ginamit siya, eh (His statements are not important. What's more important are the statements fed to him, who used him to spread his claims. He was used) ," the Senate leader said.
Sotto said he agrees that Advincula, whoever tapped him for the video, wanted to destabilize Duterte.