Ang Totoong Narcolist
On April 2, 2019, Peter Joemel Advincula, a former criminal, started creating a series of videos titled "Ang Totoong Narcolist". It discussed the alleged involvement of the Duterte familythe first family of the Philippinesin drug syndicates and accused politicians Bong Go and Paolo Duterte, both closely related to the Duterte family. The videos gained nationwide attention as politicians denied the accusations.
Advincula was introduced to a drug syndicate, which led to him being charged with fraud in 2012. Advincula was imprisoned for six years and was released early in 2017 for good behavior. After, Advincula wanted to become a whistleblower. He created a channel named "Ang Totoong Narcolist" in YouTube on April 2, 2019, featuring a hooded person named "Bikoy". Five videos were produced, between April 2 and Advincula's surrender on May 6. The videos led to a manhunt for the perpetrator led by the National Bureau of Investigation. Originally, Rodel Jayme, the owner of a website that distributed the videos, was arrested on April 30. Before Jayme was convicted, Advincula surrendered to the police. He paid his bail and left Camp Crame but returned to the police for protection. Numerous politicians were charged with sedition, including Vice President Leni Robredo and Trillanes.
Background
Perpetrator
Peter Joemel Advincula was born in 1989, in Donsol, Sorsogon, Philippines. He was introduced to a drug syndicate operating in Misibis Bay on May 6, 2010, and was selected to head closed-circuit television operations in underground facilities throughout the area. After, he was tasked to prepare the monthly "TARA", a document listing the collections and payoffs that month. During this time, Advincula allegedly witnessed the killing of one of his syndicate members, as well as the raping of their wife and daughter.Advincula fled the syndicate fearing that he would be murdered. National Bureau of Investigation agents found Advincula. He was arrested and convicted of fraud in 2012, and sentenced to six years in prison. During the first three years, he was detained at the Naga City District Jail. He was transferred to the New Bilibid Prison due to good behavior. In prison, he returned to his religious activities, serving as a "teacher" for the local detainees. Allegedly, during his detainment, he contacted the office of Senator Tito Sotto. He attempted to expose the businessmen who connected him to the drug syndicate to leave the prison. Sotto did not reply, finding his claims "suspicious." He was released in 2017, one year early due to good character.
Duterte administration
Rodrigo Duterte won the 2016 Philippine presidential election and assumed presidency on June 30. His presidency was controversial and marked by an intensive crackdown on illegal drugs. In his first 100 days, the Philippine National Police killed approximately 3,600 people under Duterte's command. This drew condemnation from the United Nations, the European Union, and other international organizations. Large protests have been held against the administration of Duterte. In September 2018, an alleged ouster plot, titled Red October, was purportedly found, reportedly created by members of the opposition. In March 2019, Duterte exposed 46 "narcolists," or politicians with connections to drug syndicates. Along with this, various disinformation campaigns were created leading up to the 2019 Philippine general election. Surigao del Norte Representative Ace Barbers portrayed these scandals as a possible motive for the creation of the videos.Videos
In August 2018, Advincula planned to go into hiding and become a whistleblower, wanting to expose the Misibis Bay syndicate's operations. He created a YouTube channel named "Ang Totoong Narcolist" on April 2, 2019. The videos are based around a hooded whistleblower named "Bikoy", who claimed to be a former member of drug syndicates in Southern Luzon and the Visayas archipelago. According to Vera Files, the videos seemed professionally done and had nice annotation. Five videos were created, between April 2 and Advincula's surrender on May 6. The videos were widely circulated throughout social media.The first episode was released on April 2. It displayed papers that "Bikoy" claimed to be TARA documents related to the syndicate. According to "Bikoy", typical TARA documents contain a date, a code name and bank account of a high-ranking official. The bottom of the documents had a signature which ensured that the details in the documents were accurate. "Bikoy" then presented two code names, saying that the code names were not bright due to their similarity to criminals' real names. He claimed the first code name was associated with Waldo Carpio, the brother of Sara Duterte's husband, Mans Carpio. He then said that the other code name belonged to Paolo Duterte, alleging that the latter had a tattoo on his back showing the code name.
The second episode was released five days later through Bombo Radyo Iloilo. It divulged a new code name that, according to "Bikoy", was difficult to trace. He associated the names to three bank accounts, including one belonging to Elijah Manuel Pepito and another to Veronica Salvador. Pepito was the partner lawyer for Mans Carpio's law firm. "Veronica Salvador" was a merged name of Duterte's wife, Honeylet "Salvador" Avanceña, and their daughter Kitty, shown as "Veronica".
The third episode was released on April 8, the following day, on YouTube. It discussed the alleged involvement of Senator Bong Go in the drug trade. "Bikoy" claimed that drug money was being funneled to Go's account and insisted that Go had a dragon tattoo on his back with his code name. The fourth episode was released on April 12, four days later. In the video, "Bikoy" further argued that Go had a dragon tattoo and stated that he was confident of his allegation; he showed a picture of Go playing basketball with a portion of the dragon tattoo visible. He reiterated that Carpio was involved in drug operations. The fifth and final video was released on April 22. In it, "Bikoy" revealed alleged organizations related to the Misibis Bay syndicate and identified personalities he claimed were involved. He also exhibited the "Quadrangle Group", an alleged group of rich businessmen purportedly involved in drug operations.
Reaction
Numerous Duterte-aligned politicians opposed the videos. During the episodes' release, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that the allegations mentioned were "black propaganda". He also accused the Liberal Party of the Philippines of creating the videos. After the first video, President Duterte blamed the political opposition and hinted that Senator Antonio Trillanes was likely behind it, calling him gay. Due to Advincula's allegations that Bong Go has a dragon tattoo, Go has shown his back on two occasions: at a Hugpong ng Pagbabago campaign event and later at a Luntiang Pilipinas campaign event in Calamba, Laguna. Trillanes praised the videos, wishing to have been part of the creation. He then challenged Paolo Duterte to display the tattoo on his back, which Duterte refused to do. The Liberal Party denied their involvement while Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison said "Bikoy" should be given protection to tell his story. The Department of Justice of the Philippines questioned "Bikoy"'s credibility due to his anonymity. The videos were considered a controversial topic online: viewers shared documents from the video, with a Facebook page titled "for the motherland Sass Rogando Sasot" encountering connections between the documents shown to a bank in Legazpi, Albay. According to the Philippine News Agency, the videos were "publicly viewed, shared and uploaded" multiple times.Oust Duterte matrix
Shortly after the release of the videos, specifically on April 16, Duterte reported in a speech that he had received intelligence reports detailing an alleged ouster plot. Six days later, Panelo released the "Oust Duterte matrix". The matrix named journalists from several news outlets, particularly the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and Rappler. Panelo said those journalists could be feeding their stories to "enemies of the state," or the opposition. He stated that the matrix was released to expose those behind the alleged ouster plot and did not file charges against the journalists shown in the matrix.Manhunt and investigation
Rodel Jayme's arrest
The DOJ began investigating the videos on April 17. The cybercrime division of the National Bureau of Investigation said that the website "metrobalita.net", a page that shared the videos, was owned by blogger Rodel Jayme. He was arrested in his residence in Parañaque April 30 and detained in NBI headquarters. Jayme was then charged with sedition on May 2, with DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra saying he could also be charged with child abuse for mentioning Duterte's daughter in one of the videos. Jayme accused opposition groups of forcing him to create the websites. An NBI spokesperson said that Jayme could be a state witness for the accusations.Peter Advincula's arrest
Before Jayme was to be charged, Peter Advincula, the original "Bikoy", surfaced. He requested help from the Integrated Bar of the Philippines in suing the Dutertes and their allies, saying his allegations were true. Two days later, the IBP rejected his offer. He then asked Senator Panfilo Lacson to postpone his hearing until the elections. That same day, Guevarra gave Advincula an ultimatum: bring evidence to back up his claims in the videos, or face sedition charges. Advincula surrendered to police May 22, stating on national television that he played a role in a script made by the Liberal Party. The media called this reversal "flip-flopping". He accused Trillanes of taking part in the video's production. The DOJ said that his allegations would need a deep investigation. Solicitor General Jose Calida offered legal aid to Advincula. Advincula had his mugshot on May 23. Elizaldy Co, one of the people mentioned in the videos, filed a 1 billion PHP lawsuit for damage from the accusations relating to him.The next day, Advincula, charged with for six counts of estafa, paid 6,000 PHP in bail. The next day, he left Camp Crame, where he was detained. The Philippine National Police started an investigation against Advincula, who had skipped a case hearing on the investigation the following day. He turned himself in to the police for protection on June 3, claiming that his life was in danger. The next day, the DOJ concluded their investigation, charging him with fraud. Advincula was released from protective custody on June 25. Ako Bicol Representative Alfredo Garbin filed a resolution on May 29 for the Philippine House Committee on Information and Communications Technology to investigate the potential effects of misinformation on social media platforms due to the videos. The resolution resulted in investigations against Facebook and Google and a request for both to attend a hearing.