Bikoy files Senate candidacy for Eleksyon 2025

Peter Joemel Advincula alias “Bikoy” — the hooded man who appeared in a viral video linking members of the Duterte family to the illegal drug trade in 2019 —  is joining the senatorial race as he filed his certificate of candidacy for Eleksyon 2025.  

Advincula, an independent candidate, said he decided to seek a Senate seat in next year’s elections to lobby for a unified correction system in the country.  

“Isa sa mga gagawin nating batas kung papalarin na magkaroon ng centralized correction system. Na kung saan ang mga nandun ay hindi idle kundi habang sila ay naroon talagang tunay reporma, tunay na therapeutic modality program ang kanilang napapasuka hanggang sila ay makalabas,” he added.

(One of the laws we will implement in the Senate is to have a centralized correction system. Where those who are there are not idle, but while they are there, they truly undergo reform, a genuine therapeutic modality program that they experience until they are released.)

Advincula filed his certificate of candidacy with the Commission on Elections at the Manila Hotel Tent City on Tuesday.

The ex-whistleblower first hogged the headlines in 2019 as the hooded narrator of "Ang Totoong Narcolist” — a series of videos implicating then-President Rodrigo Duterte, his family, and Senator Bong Go in the illicit drug trade.

He was also accused of making "untruthful statements" under oath when he said lawyers Jose Manuel "Chel" Diokno, Lorenzo "Erin" Tañada III, and former Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te were part of a plot seeking to oust Duterte.

Advincula later on renounced this accusation and claimed he was just acting upon orders from the Liberal Party.

A Manila court found him guilty of perjury in 2023. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News