By JEFFREY G. DAMICOG
Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo and 24 others, including Senators Leila de Lima and Risa Hontiveros and former Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino, have been cleared by government prosecutors of their alleged involvement in the “Ang Totoong Narcolist” video series, the Department of Justice (DoJ) bared Monday.
However, the DoJ said the panel of prosecutors chaired by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Olivia Torrevillas found probable cause to indict former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, whistleblower Peter Joemel Advincula alias “Bikoy”, and nine others for “conspiracy to commit sedition”.
Trillanes’s other co-accused are former Police Senior Supt. Eduardo Acierto, Joel Saracho, Boom Enriquez, Yolanda V. Ong, Vicente Romano III, Fr. Albert E. Alejo, Fr. Flaviano Villanueva, Jonnel P. Sangalang, and a certain Monique.
The DoJ filed the information against the 11 accused on Monday before the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court (MTC).
The DoJ said the panel released last Friday, Feb. 7, its 57-page resolution which showed its findings on the complaint filed by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) against those allegedly involved in the “Ang Totoong Narcolist” video series.
The PNP-CIDG accused Robredo and 35 respondents of committing sedition, inciting to sedition, cyber libel, libel, estafa, and obstruction of justice.
The “Ang Totoong Narcolist” video series, which was released online in April 2019 and featured “Bikoy”, accused the Duterte family and other personalities of being involved in illegal drugs activities.
The PNP-CIDG alleged that Advicula was allegedly engaged by the respondents for a destabilization plot called “Project Sodoma” to make the President, his family and close associate appear as illegal trade protectors.
The DoJ said the panel found “interlocking pieces of proof” which provide a “complete picture of the grand conspiracy between and among some respondents to create hatred or revenge against the President and his family with the end view of toppling and destabilizing the current administration.”
“These videos, the Panel found, were made by respondents Advincula; Saracho (who acted as their narrator); Enriquez (videographer) and his assistant, @Monique; Ong and Romano (scriptwriters). The Panel likewise found that Fr. Alejo prepared the JesCom (Jesuit Communication Foundation) where the videos were taken,” the DoJ said.
Advincula submitted as evidence, among others, USB drives, photographs of the respondents, keys and access cards of the places where he and his companions stayed, as well as utility bills and receipts, copies of the purchase receipts of the gadgets and electronic devices used in the making of the videos. These pieces of evidence, along with certain admissions made by some respondents, were used by the Panel in arriving at their conclusion to indict the 11 respondents for conspiracy to commit sedition,” the DoJ added.
On the other hand, the department said the panel dismissed the complaint for sedition, inciting to sedition, cyberlibel, libel, estafa, and obstruction of justice against all respondents.
Those cleared were “Otso Diretso” 2019 senatorial candidates — former Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano, former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, Robredo’s election lawyer Romulo Macalintal, lawyer Manuel “Chel” Diokno, former Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tanada III, and Samira Gutoc-Tomawis.
Also cleared were former Supreme Court (SC) spokesman Theodore Te, Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) President Egon Cayosa, former IBP President Abdiel Dan Elijah Fajardo, Atty. Philip Sawali, Minerva Ambrosio, Atty. Serafin Salvador, a certain alias Atty. Chito, Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) vice president and Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, former CBCP president and Pangasinan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco, former Novaliches Bishop Teodoro Bacani Jr., Fr. Ruben Reyes, Bro. Armin Luistro, Danilo Songco, and Carmelita Salvador.
