Duterte cool to raps vs those in Bikoy matrix

MANILA, Philippines — Believing that the truth will come out over accusations that he and his family are receiving payoffs from drug traffickers, President Duterte has expressed no interest in filing charges against personalities who have allegedly conspired to bring him down.

Duterte said he is not keen on going after his detractors, some of whom were identified by presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo as coming from the Liberal Party (LP).

Panelo named former senator Manuel Roxas II and former presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda as being behind the video clips where a certain “Bikoy” bared “Ang Totoong Narcolist,” which linked Duterte and his family to the drug protection racket.

“I’m not interested to file cases,” Duterte said in his speech during the campaign rally in Garcia Hernandez town in Bohol, which was in support of the gubernatorial bid of former Cabinet secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr. 

“Sabagay, mogawas ang tinuod (The truth will come out),” he said.

The President said he got information about the alleged destabilization efforts from his contacts in the foreign intelligence community but he did not elaborate.

Apart from the candidates under the Otso Diretso opposition senatorial slate, Duterte aired suspicion that some personalities from the elite were behind the black propaganda against him.

“Kaning mga elitista, karon ilang Otso, naghimo’g black propaganda ug gipagawas nako... Tan-awa moduwa, hugaw kaayo (The elites, the Otso Diretso, made a black propaganda and I released it… Look, they play dirty),” he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Panelo bared the alleged role of the LP and members of some cause-oriented groups, who were part of the “deliberate conspiracy” to oust the President.

Panelo said the propaganda was also aimed at efforts to boost the chances of the opposition candidates.

He also accused the Magdalo group, particularly Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, of being behind the viral video clips linking the first family to the narcotics trade.

“Magdalo ’yun, Magdalo production, si Trillanes,” Duterte said. “Kita ka mosulti, lingo sundalo ’yan eh, sinuplado na pagka-istorya (Have you seen how he speaks? He speaks in military lingo… sounds like a snob).”

‘Constructive dissent’

Meanwhile, Panelo yesterday downplayed the denials made by some personalities tagged in the Bikoy videos.

“Some personalities linked with the Oust Duterte matrix issued poker-faced denials, which naturally are expected of them,” he said in a statement.

“Yet one begins to wonder why they were all praises for the Bikoy videos, with some even anticipating the online release of the same as if they already knew of their existence,” he added. 

In a democracy, the administration welcomes “constructive dissent” because it makes for vibrant discussion, according to Panelo, who is also chief presidential legal adviser.

He said the personalties or groups whose actions fall under violation of the law must also be ready to face the consequences of their actions.

“When it, however, crosses the line of acts falling as crimes under the Revised Penal Code, then the dissenters become transgressors of law and the constituted authorities are duty-bound to enforce the law and cause their prosecution,” Panelo said, maintaining that the groups and personalities linked in the matrices have collaborated to bring down the government.

“It appears they are working together to discredit the administration by planting the seeds of hate on the President for him to lose the trust he earned from – as well as the mandate given him by – the people,” he added.

Malacañang will leave it to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to determine the criminal and/or administrative liabilities of the suspected destabilizers, according to Panelo.

Panelo assured the public that the government would not violate due process in pursuing charges against the violators.

“Due process is given, its observance is unequivocal as it is mandatory, as demanded by the Constitution and as meticulously and strictly observed by this administration,” he said.

“It is in the legal arena that the rules on evidence will hold sway. The parties will be given their day in court,” he added, emphasizing there is no need to conduct further investigation on the revelations.

All lies

Panelo has described as “absurd” the revelations by Bikoy that Duterte and members of his family receive payola from drug syndicates, along with former special presidential assistant and current senatorial bet Bong Go.

“The lies dominating in said videos have been undressed naked. Some claims are incredible, if not absurd, to merit even cursory attention,” Panelo said.

“Nevertheless, the justice secretary has urged Bikoy to file a complaint against the personalities he identified in the videos, including those related to the President,” he added.

If Bikoy files a complaint, Panelo said the investigating prosecutor would have to conduct preliminary investigation to determine probable cause. 

“The videos are purely black propaganda to demonize the President, his family and his associates and to discredit the administration in the last few days of the election campaign calculated to boost the chances of the opposition senatorial candidates,” the spokesman said. 

Panelo maintained that the release of the Oust Duterte matrix is pursuant to the constitutional duty of the President to inform the public, based on the right to information as enshrined in the Bill of Rights.

Surprised

Even Olympian Hidilyn Diaz and television host Gretchen Ho were not spared from the list of individuals tagged by Malacañang as among those allegedly plotting Duterte’s ouster.

On Twitter, the two personalities expressed surprise over their inclusion in the new set of diagrams presented by Panelo on Wednesday.

“I have so many goals in life and for the Philippines to join in those things,” Diaz tweeted in Filipino. “I was shocked that I was linked to that.”

Ho, meanwhile, shrugged off her inclusion in the matrix, noting that she even attended a private dinner hosted by the President and his partner Honeylet Avanceña the night before.

“So, what is it? Am I trying to oust or support the government?” she tweeted, referring to criticisms over her attendance at the dinner.

“Regarding being included in the ‘matrix’, I don’t even know who Bikoy is, I have never watched the videos nor shared them, and I have no idea who Rodel Jayme is. You can check all of my social media pages. Thanks,” she added.

“Bikoy” was the alias used by the man who accused President Duterte and his relatives and close allies of involvement in the drug trade.

A man who identified himself as Peter Joemel Advincula surfaced on Monday and claimed to be Bikoy.

Jayme, meanwhile, was recently arrested and charged with inciting to sedition supposedly for creating a website that shared the Bikoy videos.

The new diagrams expanded the previous one presented by Panelo to include additional personalities, including members of the LP.

Journalists tagged in the supposed ouster plots have denied the claim.

“I deny allegations by presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo linking me to any imagined destabilization efforts against the administration,” Vera Files president Ellen Tordesillas said.

“I challenge him to present evidence, not just silly diagrams,” Tordesillas added.

Tordesillas has repeatedly denied the allegation, saying the so-called matrix is meant to intimidate media who are holding the government accountable for its actions.

Meanwhile, journalist Inday Espina-Varona said the new diagram “officially verifies the level of idiocy and incompetence in Malacañang.”

“Rolling my eyes,” she wrote on Facebook. “People who know me and who know the Magdalo dudes are now clutching their aching tummies. #OnlyWhenWeLaugh Perfect cap to a morning of surreal labeling and name-calling.”

In the new diagram, Varona is linked with Trillanes and Magdalo Rep. and opposition senatorial candidate Gary Alejano. No explanation was given as to how she is linked to the politicians.

In the previous “matrix” released by The Manila Times and later presented by Panelo, Varona was linked to the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers.

NUPL members said they are planning to file charges over the release of the diagrams.

‘Excellent intelligence work’

The inclusion of some showbiz, media and sports personalities in the Oust Duterte matrix indicated either excellent intelligence work or information peddler Bikoy had infiltrated the National Security Agency (NSA), Sen. Panfilo Lacson said yesterday.

Lacson mentioned, in particular, the inclusion of Diaz and Ho.

“Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz has brought honor to the country while journalist Gretchen Ho has carved out a name for herself in her field, both through discipline and hard work. Their inclusion in the matrix either involved excellent intelligence work or Bikoy had infiltrated NSA,” Lacson said in his Twitter post.

Lacson said he does not believe the matrix presented by Panelo.

“Why? For a simple reason. Hidilyn Diaz, she’s a gem. I think she brought home a medal. At the Senate, we honored her, and even passed a resolution congratulating her. She has brought honor and pride, prestige to the country. And then she’ll be included? Does the kid have time to meddle in destabilization?” he added.

“And then Gretchen Ho. She has started to carve out a name for herself in the media, it seems so unlikely,” he noted.

For reelectionist Sen JV Ejercito, the Oust Duterte matrix should not be taken seriously, considering the high approval rating of the administration.

Ejercito said despite the exposé of the so-called matrix, nothing will change since Duterte enjoys the trust and confidence of the people.

He vouched for the integrity of Diaz and Ho, whom Panelo linked to Jayme.

“I also know the two, especially Ho… I can vouch, I don’t think she will be involved in anything like this,” Ejercito said.

Price matrix

People are concerned with rising consumer prices and not the so-called oust-Duterte matrix, Bayan Muna party-list group Rep. Carlos Zarate said yesterday.

Zarate said Panelo and other administration officials should address the “price matrix” and not the drawing or diagram of groups and personalities supposedly conspiring to remove Duterte from office.

The congressman added that prices of goods and services are still high despite the report of the Philippine Statistics Authority that inflation has eased to three percent.

“The lower three-percent inflation rate only means that there was a slower increase in prices. But it does not mean that last year’s record rise in consumer prices has been wiped out. That unprecedented increase is still there, taking its toll on the poor and other low-income groups,” he stressed.

To bring down inflation, Zarate suggested that Congress scrap new and increased fuel taxes imposed under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.

For Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, however, the slow inflation meant that measures taken by the Duterte administration in checking the increase in consumer prices have been effective.

Arroyo, an economist, congratulated Duterte’s economic managers for the decrease in inflation.

Another lawmaker-economist, Mikee Romero of party-list group 1-Pacman, said the continued fall in inflation “is a welcome development, but the country’s economic managers should still watch for inflation pressures, particularly from the agriculture sector.” – With Janvic Mateo, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Jess Diaz