Supposed ouster plots against President Duterte

Vice President Leni Robredo clarifies that she is not among those who are supposedly calling for the ouster of President Rodrigo Duterte.

"Hayagan ko pong sinasabi: Hindi ako bahagi ng anumang panawagang bumaba sa puwesto si Pangulong Duterte," Robredo said in a statement.

(I am openly saying: I am not part of any call for President Duterte to step down.)

Robredo said she is only calling on government officials to do their jobs as public servants.

The vice president, however, stressed that the freedom to assemble and freedom of speech are constitutional rights amid a reported mobilization in February 22.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas denies allegations by "Bikoy" that he was part of a supposed plot to unseat President Rodrigo Duterte and install Vice President Leni Robredo as the country's chief executive. 

"On the day and time, December 12, 2018 in the evening, that I allegedly met with some plotters to overthrow the government, I was in the parish church of Orani in Bataan to deliver the homily at the first Mass of a friend newly ordained priest," the priest says in a statement.

"As a mortal being like the rest of us, I have no capacity to be in two places at the same time."

Peter Joemel Advincula, the man claiming to be "Bikoy," identified Villegas, whom he said was present at a meeting on Dec. 12, 2018 at the Jesuit Residence of the ADMU in Quezon City.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo says President Rodrigo Duterte has received intelligence report showing conspiracy among groups to discredit the administration for the purpose of the May 13 polls.

Panelo shows diagram on the alleged conspiracy against the Duterte admin @PhilippineStar @PhilstarNews pic.twitter.com/b0N4OasPVC

— Alexis B. Romero (@alexisbromero) May 8, 2019

The groups allegedly include the Liberal Party, the Magdalo group, media organizations, among others, as presented in the matrix.  

Sedition is an archaic law used to silence political critics, former Rep. Erin Tañada (Quezon) says in reaction to the indictment of a website administrator for allegedly sharing anonymous videos alleging the Dutertes are involved in illegal drugs.

"To put it simply, sedition punishes political criticism. In the Philippines, it is a relic of our colonial past. Jose Rizal himself was charged with sedition by Spanish authorities before he was executed. It was also one of the favorite tools used by the Marcos dictatorship to silence critics. It's an age-old strategy that leaders who cannot be honest and transparent to the people always choose," Tañada says in a statement.

He notes that the government seems to have moved quickly to investigate the posting of the videos while progress in other cases has been slow.

Senatorial candidate Erin Tañada criticized the government for prioritizing the prosecution of its critics after the arrest of a person accused of sharing videos critical of the administration.

"Pag maliit na tao ang napatay, taon ang lumilipas pero walang nangyayari. ‘Yung nagbanta sa buhay ng mga obispo at pari hindi pa rin ma-identify. Yung mga akusado sa Ampatuan massacre hanggang ngayon nasa korte pa. Pero pag binatikos mo si Presidente Duterte at pamilya niya, isang buwan lang may arestado na," he says.

(When it is a regular person who is killed, years pass and nothing happens. Those who sent death threats to the bishops and priests are still not identified. The accused in the Ampatuan massacre are still in trial. Bu when you criticize President Duterte and his family, someone is arrested within a month.)

Former aide to the president Bong Go takes off his shirt at a press conference in Calamba, Laguna to show he has no tattoos, as response to fresh allegations by an alias "Bikoy," who was earlier today identified himself as Peter Joemel Advincula.

Bikoy, known producer of viral videos "Ang Totoong Narcolist," surfaced earlier today at the office of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and accused Go and President Rodrigo Duterte of being "senior members" of a drug syndicate. He says he was part of a team who scanned tattooed codes of big-time drug traffickers.

Go says Advincula should not have approached the Integrated Bar, but should have gone to a psychiatric hospital instead.

"May sinabi s'ya noon na kapag ipinakita ko ang aking likod ay titigal na siya. Hinubad ko na at ipinakita ang aking likod. Wala kayong nakitang tattoo," Go says at the event. 

"So ngayon, hubarin ko ulit ang damit ko. Tingnan nyo ng mabuti. Ito, huling beses ko ng hubarin ito. Maging uto uto na ako kung gagawin ko pa ng pangatlong beses," he adds.

The Department of Justice has indicted Rodel Jayme, the alleged administrator of the metrobalita website and who shared the "Bikoy" videos. 

The National Bureau of Investigation filed a complaint of "inciting to sedition" against Jayme last week for linking to the anonymous videos alleging the Dutertes have links to illegal drugs.

Jayme has denied knowledge of the videos, saying only that he was paid to create the website but did not run it. He has said he is willing to help authorities in their investigation.

Earlier Monday, Peter Joemel Advincula, who identified himself as the "Bikoy" in the videos, went to the office of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines to seek legal assistance.

He said he decided to surface due to threats to his life and the call of his conscience.
 

A man who claimed to be “Bikoy" surfaces at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines where he says he is seeking legal assistance from the group of lawyers.

Bikoy has been known on social media as the producer of controversial videos alleging ties of President Duterte and his family to big-time narcotics trade.

Malacañang struck back by allowing the publication of a so-called matrix of media organizations plotting against Duterte. It refused, however, to offer further proof for the matrix, which bears some factual errors such as non-existent IP addresses and innacurate associations.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra says in a press conference that authorities have traced the "Bikoy" videos to a certain Rodel Jaime.

He says the National Bureau of Investigation's Cycbercrime Division arrested Jaime while implementing a search warrant issued by a Makati court. The search was implemented at 4 a.m. on April 30, he also says.

"Jaime was cooperative and surrendered his desktop computer mobile phone and internet service provider," Guevara also says.

Guevarra says forensic examination of the equipment showed that Jaime was indeed the registrant and administrator of the website, metrobalita.com, which is linked to the "Bikoy" videos.

It showed that Jaime published the link of the Ang Totoong Narcolist.

“I will leave the determination of the existence of probable cause to the wisdom of the inquest prosecutor,” Guevarra adds.

The investigation is still ongoing and the NBI is looking at other persons of interest in the case.

A person of interest believed to be an uploader of a video produced by a certain Bikoy has been taken into custody by authorities.

It is not clear as of press time whether a court has issued an arrest warrant against the uploader, or a case has been lodged against him.

The video alleged the Duterte administration's ties to the illegal narcotics trade led to the publication of a matrix of media organizations supposedly plotting against the government. The matrix's credibility, however, has not been proven.

National Union of People's Lawyers President Edre Olalia slams as "atrocious" Malacañang's statement that it is "totally unnecessary" to prove the so-called "oust-Duterte matrix" which linked journalists and pro bono lawyers to an alleged plan to unseat President Rodrigo Duterte.

"It's the obligation of the accuser to provide proof for his allegations," Olalia says in an interview over ANC's "Early Edition."

"We can file administrative charges against those maligning people who are just doing their jobs."

VERA Files reiterates that the supposed "Oust Duterte" plot floated by the Office of the President and reported by the Manila Times last week is false and says the alleged plot "was not deliberately manufactured to muddle the mind of the public with lies and endanger the lives of the persons named" in a government diagram that supposedly proved the existence of that plot.

"One week has passed and Malacañang and the Manila Times have not come up with anything to back up their false report alleging that journalists, news organizations and a lawyers’ group were involved in an oust-Duterte plot," VERA Files' board says in a statement on its website.

"VERA Files condemns the spread of falsehood by no less than the president through his spokesman, Salvador Panelo and special envoy for international public relations Dante A. Ang, Manila Times Chairman Emeritus, linking us to an alleged destabilization plot," its board also says.

They hint at the possibility of seeking "legal relief" over their being tagged in the supposed plot.

Resigned Manila Times Managing Editor Felipe Salvosa II says he was told to include the "ouster plot matrix" story in the lineup and that he should not edit it.

"I wasn't given a reason as to why I shouldn't edit it anymore," he says in an interview over ANC's "Early Edition."

"When you say 'copy editing,' that's substantive editing. If I'm told I'm not allowed to do copy editing, that means I'm not allowed to change anything."

Salvosa resigned after disagreements over the publication of the said story written by Manila Times chairman emeritus Dante Ang, appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as special envoy of the president for international public relations.

"As an editor and a journalist, I would have suggested na delay the publication for a day or two, then call up all the names mentioned in the diagram. If you're mentioning these names I think it's fair to call them and get their reaction, right?" he says.

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism says the Manila Times' "association matrix" and story about a supposed plot to oust President Duterte that include journalists are "wrong on many points."

"PCIJ had absolutely not nor ever received any email from Ms. Ellen Tordesillas on the link to the so-called 'narcolist video' of 'Bikoy.' PCIJ has neither posted nor distributed any stories or commentaries on the 'narcolist video' of 'Bikoy.' The video was posted on YouTube from where the news media and citizens got to watch it."

It also raises concern on the possible violation of the right to privacy committed by "experts" working with the Office of the President.

"The Manila Times story admits to a crime that may have been committed, and fundamental freedoms that may have been violated," it says.

"It offers tacit admission that these 'experts,' apparently working with the Office of the President, had invaded the privacy of the emails and correspondence of journalists now being singled out."

The National Union of People's Lawyers slams as "rubbish" allegations which involved the human rights organization to a supposed plot to oust President Duterte. It adds that the accusations are libelous.

"This has certainly gone over the walls of credulity. It is absolutely false, totally baseless and completely ludicrous," the group says in a statement.

"One Dr. Dante A. Ang, who appears to be the chairman emeritus of a certain media outfit called Manila Times, released today a screaming headline bylined by himself quoting a supposedly 'highly placed source in the Office of the President' that 'there is a plot to discredit the President and destabilize his government.'"

"Dr. Ang splattered a web-like 'Association Matrix Between Bikoy and Ellen Tordesillas' spun by his anonymous source. It linked the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers and practically all of its key officers and some members in allegedly distributing from critical media sources the false narratives of a certain 'Bikoy' who appeared in a video of a supposed 'narcolist' linking President Rodrigo Duterte and his family to the drug trade."

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo says the source of the latest ouster plot allegation against President Duterte is the chief executive himself.

Panelo on alleged ouster plot vs. Duterte: Source is the president himself @PhilippineStar @PhilstarNews

— Alexis B. Romero (@alexisbromero) April 22, 2019

He says this after a Manila Times story written by the publication's chairman emeritus Dante Ang, who was also appointed by Duterte as special envoy of the president for international public relations, says there is a plot to "destabilize" the government. Ang cited that his source is "highly placed" in the Office of the President.

Panelo, however, says the Office of the President did not leak the matrix to the Manila Times.

LOOK: Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo shows the matrix on the alleged ouster plot against President Duterte @PhilippineStar @PhilstarNews pic.twitter.com/RaUHmHTTvT

— Alexis B. Romero (@alexisbromero) April 22, 2019

Get the latest updates on alleged ouster plots floated by the Duterte administration.