Ang Totoong Narcolist

On April 2, 2019, Peter Joemel Advincula, an ex-convict, set up a channel named "Ang Totoong Narcolist" (transl. The True Narcolist), centered against the Presidency of Rodrigo Duterte. The channel talked about alleged involvement of the Duterte family in drug syndicates. Five episodes were uploaded, each accusing politicians like Bong Go and Paolo Duterte, people closely related or involved in the Duterte family. The videos caused major attention nationwide, with politicians denying their accusations. The National Bureau of Investigation started a manhunt for the suspect, first capturing blogger Rodel Jayme to no avail. Advincula then surfaced as 'Bikoy', the character in the videos. He was protected by government agencies, eventually paying the bail for sedition. After the investigation, politician Antonio Trillanes was also charged with sedition.

Peter Joemel Advincula was born on March 22, 1989, in Donsol, Sorsogon. His mother was a parish secretary while his father was a farmer. He graduated from the Donsol West Central School in 2001. He was the president of Knights of the Altar. Advincula wanted to be a priest, entering a seminary in 2005 after graduating. He pursued an AB Philosophy degree. He developed skills in technology during this time.^[1] His father passed away in 2009. To support his sibling through college, he entered marketing the following year. He was introduced to Elizaldy Co, one of the richest men in the Bicol Region. On May 6 that same year, he was introduced to a drug syndicate operating out of Misibis Bay. He was tasked to prepare the monthly "TARA", a document listing the collections and payoffs that month. He was convicted of fraud in 2012 and sentenced to six years in prison. He was released in 2017, one year early because of good character.^[1]

In August 2018, Advincula planned to go into hiding and become a whistleblower. He wanted to expose the syndicate's operations.^[1] The channel was named "Ang Totoong Narcolist" (transl. The True Narcolist). It was set up 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 looked professionally done, with nice annotation.^[2] Five videos were created in total, between April 2, and Advincula's surrender on May 6.^[3] The first episode was released on April 2.^[2][4] It showed documents, with "Bikoy" claiming them to be TARA documents related to the syndicate. According to Bikoy, the typical TARA documents contain a date, a code name of a high-ranking official, the bank accounts of the official, and the deposits made. Bikoy then presented two code names: POLO DELTA-TSG01 and ALPHA TIERRA-0029. He said that the code names were "not that bright" because they were similar to their real names. He then said that the first code name belonged to Waldo Carpio, the brother of Sara Duterte's husband, Mans Carpio.^[2][5]

The second episode was released on April 7, five days later.^[4][2] It was released through Bombo Radyo Iloilo. It talked about a new code name: VEGAREGA-AAAA00! which, according to Bikoy, was hard to trace. He eventually traced it to three bank accounts: including one belonging to Elijah Manuel Pepito and another belonging to Veronica Salvador. Pepito was the partner lawyer for Mans Carpio's law firm, while Veronica Salvador was not a known person. The video eventually revealed that Veronica was a merged name from the name of Duterte's wife, Honeylet "Salvador" Avanceña, and their daughter Kitty, named "Veronica".^[6]

The third episode was released on April 8, the next day.^[4] The video was released through YouTube.^[7] It talks about the involvement of Senator Bong Go in the drug trade. Bikoy claimed that drug money was being funneled into Go's account. He then claimed that Go uses the code name TESOROGOLF-TSG-002 and has a dragon tattoo on his back with his code name.^[8] The fourth episode was released on April 12, four days later.^[4] The video was a response to Go's claim stating that he did not have a dragon tattoo on his back. He was confident on his allegation, showing a picture of Go playing basketball with a portion of the dragon tattoo. He also repeated his claim that Carpio was involved in drug operations.^[9] The fifth and final video was released on April 22, ten days later. It revealed organizations related to the syndicate and identified personalities related to drug operations including the "Quadrangle Group", a group of rich businessmen.^[4]

During the release of the episodes, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that the allegations mentioned were "black propaganda" and that Bikoy was just a "pawn". He also accused the Liberal Party of the Philippines for creating the videos.^[10] After the release of the first video, President Duterte blamed the political opposition for the "black propaganda", and further hinted that Senator Antonio Trillanes was likely behind the video, calling him gay.^[11] That same day, Trillianes praised the videos, wishing to have been part of their creation. He challenged Paolo Duterte, one of the people mentioned in the first video, to show his back tattoo, a claim made in the video. The latter rejected to do so in a statement.^[12] After the release of episode three, Go has shown his back in two occasions; on April 10 in a Hugpong ng Pagbabago campaign event^[8] and another on May 6 in a Luntiang Pilipinas campaign event in Calamba, Laguna.^[13] The Liberal Party denied their involvement in the videos in a campaign event on May 3.^[14] The Department of Justice of the Philippines (DOJ) questioned the credibility of Bikoy on May 6 because of his anonymity.^[15] Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison said on May 6 that Bikoy should be given protection to tell his story.^[16]

The DOJ started investigating the videos on April 17.^[17] The cybercrime division of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said that the website "metrobalita.net", a website which shared the videos, was owned by blogger Rodel Jayme. He was arrested in his residence in Parañaque on April 30. Jayme was then detained in the NBI headquarters.^[18] Jayme was charged with sedition on May 2, with Department of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra stating that he could also be charged with child abuse for mentioning Duterte's daughter in one of the videos.^[17] An NBI spokesperson said that Jayme could be a state witness for stating that the Liberal Party forced him to create the website.^[19]

Just when Jayme was going to be charged, Peter Advincula, the original 'Bikoy', surfaced on May 6. He asked for help from the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) to sue the Dutertes and their allies.^[20] Two days later, the IBP rejected his offer. He then asked Senator Panfilo Lacson to postpone his hearing until the elections.^[21] That same day, Guevarra gave Advincula an ultimatum: bring evidence to back up his claims in the videos to the NBI, or face charges of sedition.^[22] Advincula surrendered to police on May 23, stating that he played a role in a script made by the Liberal Party.^[23] The Philippine National Police (PNP) started an investigation against Advincula on May 27.^[24]

He turned himself in to the police for protection on June 3, suspecting that his life is in danger.^[25] The next day, the DOJ wrapped up its investigation, charging him with fraud without a statement from Advincula.^[26] He was released from protective custody on June 25.^[27] Politicians were sued for sedition on July 18, including Vice President Leni Robredo.^[28] Investigations were made into Robredo and other politicians' relation to the Bikoy videos.^[29] Advincula surrendered again to PNP on July 29.^[30] He posted the bail of 10,000 PHP on July 31, getting released.^[31] He then applied for state protection on August 5 with his lawyer Larry Gadon.^[32] Robredo responded to the investigation with a counter-affidavit, denying the accusations on August 29.^[33] The next year, on February 10, Robredo was cleared of her accusations while Antonio Trillanes was charged with sedition.^[34]

On January 20, 2021, Advincula was charged with perjury by a Manila court for allegedly false statements against the Free Legal Assistance Group.^[35] He surrendered in a local police station in Daraga with his brother, posting a 18,000 PHP bail.^[36] He was absent from the court on July 21, making the court recall his arrest warrant because Advincula was able to justify his absence.^[37] He allegedly killed three politicians in Albay months later on November 13, with their bodies appearing in his ukay-ukay store in Daraga. He was declared the primary suspect.^[38] According to local police, his possible motive was a grudge between one of the victims after she rejected a request for a loan by Advincula.^[39] He posted the 1 million PHP bail on December 16.^[40] Two years later, he was convicted of perjury from statements he made in 2019 implicating lawyers Erin Tañada, Chel Diokno and Theodore Te in an ouster plot.^[41] He was sentenced to a maximum of one year and one day in prison,^[42] but eventually posted bail soon after the verdict.^[43] In 2024, he filed his candidacy for senator in the 2025 election, but was declared a nuisance candidate by the Commission on Elections.^[44]

• Dennis Jose Borbon
• Alleged ouster plots against Rodrigo Duterte
• Red October (ouster plot)