Peter Advincula no-show at estafa probe

Peter Joemel Advincula, the man who claims to have linked members of the First Family in the illegal drug trade, failed to show up at the Department of Justice's (DOJ) preliminary investigation into an estafa complaint against him Tuesday.

Advincula was also not represented by a lawyer in the hearing, said former Bureau of Corrections chief Benjamin delos Santos, the lawyer of the businessman who filed the complaint.

Another hearing has been set for June 4. Delos Santos said they learned a copy of the complaint had been "validly received" at Advincula's last known address in Donsol, Sorsogon.

If Advincula fails to submit a counter affidavit, the prosecutor would be "forced to resolve the case," the lawyer said.

Arven Valmores, president and CEO of perfume distributor Ardeur World Marketing Corp., accused Advincula of using the company name without authority to promote a beauty pageant he had organized in Polangui, Albay last August.

Valmores, who attended Tuesday's hearing at the DOJ, said Advincula was merely an independent seller of the company's products.

When Advincula allegedly disappeared without paying the production staff and the pageant winners, the businessman said he was forced to settle more than P304,000 to 28 people to save his company's name.

An admitted estafa convict who was released from prison in 2016, Advincula surfaced earlier this month to introduce himself as "Bikoy," the hooded figure in a series of online videos implicating the President's family members and close aide former Special Assistant to the President and Senator-elect Christopher "Bong" Go to the illegal drug trade.

He quickly disappeared after reaffirming "Bikoy's" allegations at a press conference held at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines headquarters in Ortigas Center in Pasig City, but surrendered to the police last week and tagged Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and the Liberal Party as the brains behind the "Ang Totoong Narco List" videos.

Advincula has been released after he posted bail for an estafa case pending before the Baguio Regional Trial Court. —KG, GMA News