Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra yesterday said the Department of Justice has started tracking down the people behind the “Totoong Narco List” videos that linked the family of President Duterte to the illegal drugs trade.
“I have given instructions to the Office of Cybercrime of the Department of Justice to coordinate with the cybercrime unit of the National Bureau of Investigation to find out the source of these videos,” Guevarra said.
Aside from unmasking the alias “Bikoy” in the videos and other persons behind them, the Justice Secretary said a case build up would be done once they are identified.
“The criminal charges would depend on the acts committed. The fact-finding team may look, for instance, if there is basis for filing of a cyber libel complaint,” he said.
At the same time, Guevarra said he left it to the fact-finding team if sedition charges can be filed since the videos have been linked to the destabilization plot against the Duterte administration.
Earlier, the President had said he would go after those responsible for the black propaganda against him and his family.
The President specifically warned those involved in the videos to lay off his children, particularly his 14-year-old daughter Veronica.
The narrator in the videos Bikoy accused the President’s children Paolo and Sara, and Sara’s husband Manases Carpio, and Cielito “Honeylet” Avancena, the President’s partner, and their daughter Veronica or Kitty of benefitting from the illegal drugs trade.
It was alleged in the videos that Cielito was receiving money from the drug syndicates through the bank account of her daughter Kitty.
Published reports stated that the Philippine National Police has also started its own investigation. (Rey Panaligan)