Senator Panfilo Lacson questioned the inclusion of Olympic weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz and TV personality Gretchen Ho in a new matrix released hours after he canceled the probe on Peter Joemel Advincula, who claimed to be “Bikoy” in the controversial “Ang Totoong Narcolist” video series.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo presented new diagrams of people believed to part of the massive scheme to unseat Duterte to reporters on May 8.
While many of the groups and personalities mentioned are known critics of the president, some of those named such as Ho and Diaz were surprised that they were dragged in the lsit.
Lacson said on Twitter how ridiculous it was to tag Ho and Diaz in the alleged ouster plot.
“Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz has brought honor to the country while journalist Gretchen Ho has carved out a name for herself in her field, both through discipline and hard work,” the senator said.
He went on and mocked: “Their inclusion in the matrix either involved excellent intelligence work or Bikoy had infiltrated NSA.”
This development came after he announced that the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs will no longer investigate Advincula.
Bikoy accused some members of President Rodrigo Duterte’s family and allies to be benefiting from the illegal drug trade.
Lacson made the decision to cancel the hearing due to a comment of Senate President Vicente Sotto III that Advincula was also the same person who made the same claims against President Benigno Aquino and some officials of the previous administration in 2016.
The hearing was supposed to take place on May 10.
“Enough of this nonsense,” part of his tweet said.
“The problem with asking Bikoy who are the people behind him is if we will believe him,” he added.
Reactions
Ho aired her confusion at being included in the “matrix” on Twitter when she was among those invited by the president for a private dinner.
“Regarding being included in the ‘matrix,’ I don’t even know who Bikoy is, I have never watched the videos nor shared them, and I have no idea who Rodel Jayme is,” the former volleyball player said.
She also clarified that the event was not for Duterte’s supporters and attached a screenshot of the invite on her tweet.
Her attendance to the dinner was also to show that she doesn’t have any political color, Ho said in a radio interview.
“I wanted to show them na hindi ako yellow, hindi rin ako red. Gusto ko lang din ipakita ’yung neutrality, dahil bilang isang media practitioner, ang laging sabi sa akin, ‘Our duty is to always open communication lines and not to close doors.’ It’s my way of opening my mind,” she said.
Diaz, a gold medalist in the 2018 Asian Games was similarly surprised with such information.
“Dami ko pang goals sa life and Pinas para sumali sa ganyan bagay,” she said as response to a Twitter user.
Diaz pointed out that she’s currently busy training for the upcoming Olympic Games, wherein she‘s ranked five at the qualifying rounds.
“Marami pa po akong lalaruin kailangan ko magfocus, maniwala kay God na eto ang dream niya para sakin,” she said.
A lawyer whose name was also identified decried his sudden involvement because his Twitter handle was @bikoy, the same name as the mysterious narrator. —Artwork by Uela Altar-Badayos