The camp of Peter Joemel Advincula alias “Bikoy” on Monday formally sought admission to the Department of Justice’s Witness Protection Program.
In a letter to Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, Advincula, through his lawyer Larry Gadon, cited the alleged threat to his life and liberty as the primary reason for applying for WPP coverage.
Advincula said his life and that of his family was put at risk when he decided to come out in the open and linked several prominent opposition personalities, including Vice President Leni Robredo, in a supposed plot called “Project Sodoma” to oust President Rodrigo Duterte.
“With the different prominent political figures and influential personalities that I divulged and disclosed during the series of investigations conducted by the Philippine National Police, particularly the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, my life and the life of my family, and security is at risk," Advincula said.
As a result, he requested an “exclusive protection and protective custody” under the WPP through the direct supervision, handling and protection of some PNP officials including Col. Benjamin Silo Jr., the deputy district director for operations of the Northern Police district, and Maj. Ronnie Miranda Fabia, the provincial officer of the PNP-CIDG in Albay.
Last month, Gadon said his client had already sought WPP coverage but Guevarra denied the claim.
Nonetheless, Guevarra said Advincula may apply for coverage under the WPP, though he added he had to meet certain requirements to qualify.
Advincula would have to submit a sworn affidavit detailing the allegations he made when he surrendered to the PNP in May, when he retracted his earlier accusations linking members of President Duterte’s family to the illegal drug trade.
Guevarra said the submission of a sworn affidavit was just the first step as his department would still evaluate it and his credibility as a possible government witness.
If, after the examination, his department was satisfied that the requirements had been complied with, then Advincula could be admitted to the WPP.
He must also be the least guilty of the alleged crime committed.
Besides Robredo, also included in the sedition and libel case filed before the DOJ in connection with Project Sodoma are Senators Leila de Lima, Risa Hontiveros, former senator Antonio Trillanes, former Education Secretary Armin Luistro, Jonnel Sangalang, a member of Trillanes’ Senate staff, Eduardo Acierto, former Integrated Bar of the Philippines president Abdiel Dan Fajardo, lawyers Minerva Ambrosio, Serafin Salvador, Philip Sawali and IBP national president Domingo Egon Cayosa, former Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te, former Otso Diretso candidates Gary Alejano, Florin Hilbay, Romulo Macalintal, Samira Gutoc, Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno, Bam Aquino and Lorenzo “Erin” Tanada III and clergy members, Bishops Teodoro Bacani Jr. and Honesto Ongtico, Archbishops Pablo Virgilio David and Socrates Villegas and Frs. Robert Reyes, Flaviano Villanueva, and Albert Alejo.
The complaint says the accused planned to “spread false information against President Duterte and his family to agitate the general population into making mass protests with the possibility of bringing down the President from the position and allow Vice President Robredo to succeed.”