(Eagle News)–Senator Leila de Lima has stood by her claim Bikoy’s allegations against President Rodrigo Duterte, his family and some of his allies should be investigated, even as she said Peter Joemel Advincula’s latest turnaround “strongly supports” the theory he was a “professional con artist” or a “psychopath.”
In a statement, De Lima said the allegations of Advincula, who claims to be “Bikoy,” against the chief executive and his ilk should be probed with “the same if not more vigor as the allegations against” her as this was the only way to know the truth.
“At ito rin ang dapat natin malaman–Sino-sino ang mga nasa likod ng mga gawa-gawang akusasyon laban sa akin?” she said.
As for Advincula’s claims the Liberal Party, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and members of the opposition like her were behind “Bikoy,” she said in her case, “none of my staff has anything to do with the so-called ‘Bikoy’ exposé.”
She said not one of them knows Bikoy “or has ever met or talked to him, or otherwise dealt with him.”
“Even if a broken clock tells the correct time twice a day, that doesn’t make it any less broken. A liar can tell the truth in order to give credence to his lies, and he can lie in order to poison the truth; it doesn’t make the lies any more true, or the truths any more false,” she said.
“The question is how do we tell the difference? By using reason and discernment, and digging deeper,” she added.
Following his surrender on Wednesday, Advincula, who faces estafa and illegal recruitment cases, said all that was said in the Bikoy videos were “lies.”
He said he was promised P500,000 to play the role of “Bikoy” in the videos aimed at ousting Duterte and discrediting his longtime aide Bong Go, who was at that time running for a seat in the Senate.
He said under Project Sodoma, Duterte would be replaced by Vice President Leni Robredo based on the Constitution, while Trillanes, whose term as senator ends in June, would be installed as vice president.
Trillanes, LP including Robredo have denied the allegations.
