Seek P5 million each in actual and moral damages
(Eagle News)–Peter Joemel Advincula is facing perjury charges over his claims in connection with the Ang Totoong Narco-list videos that became the basis for the filing of sedition charges against Vice President Leni Robredo and several others.
The charges also for offering false testimony in evidence filed against Arnold Thomas Ibay were lodged by lawyers Chel Diokno, Lorenzo Tañada III and Theodore Te, who are seeking actual and moral damages of P5 million each.
Ibay represents the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group that acted as complainant in the sedition charges over the videos where Advincula claims to have appeared as “Bikoy.”
Diokno and Tañada in particular noted Advincula’s claim they met with him and other Otso Diretso candidates to discuss the so-called Oplan Sodoma aimed at toppling the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
According to Tañada, this was “an absolutely and willful and deliberate assertion of a falsehood in violation of law.”
“The truth of the matter is that we, Attys. Diokno and Tañada, never met and do not personally know Advincula,” they said.
They said while they were at the Ateneo de Manila University on March 4, they were there only to attend a senatorial candidates forum organized by Rappler and the university’s political science department.
They said the forum was “open” to the Ateneo community, and was covered by the different print and broadcast media.
“Right after the forum, we immediately left the Ateneo campus to attend to other engagements,” they said.
Te for his part admitted he met with Advincula on May 4 in his capacity as a Free Legal Assistance Group lawyer, but not on May 2 as Advincula claimed and not to finalize the exposure of the Ang Totoong Narco-list videos against Duterte’s family on May 4.
He said the meeting was after he received a message “from our internal mechanisms (which are protected by privilege)” that a person was seeking for legal advice.
“I, Atty. Te, do not have any personal knowledge of his aliases and was unaware that he is this character ‘Bikoy,'” he said.
He said they engaged in a “not very long conversation and I did not ask many questions as it appeared manifest to me the person was giving too many details that could not be verified immediately and which would impact directly on his credibility.”
According to Te, he “made known (his) reservation as to (Advincula’s) lack of credibility” to their national chairperson Diokno, who was then running for a seat in the Senate.
“We agreed that FLAG would not represent or assist Mr. Advincula and that if they agreed, FLAG would refer the request to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines national committee on legal aid, subject to their own assessment of his credibility,” Te said.
“By executing these documents (Advincula affidavit and Ibay complaint) under oath and thereafter submitting them to the (Department of Justice) as evidence, Ibay and Advincula committed (the crimes of perjury and offering false testimony in evidence),” they added.
