Bishop David says he 'briefly' met Advincula but referred him to other people

MANILA, Philippines — Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David said Friday that he met Peter Advincula who was seeking help in February but he referred him to other people pending scrutiny into the veracity of his story.

David in a Facebook post clarified that he “briefly encountered” Advincula when met with Fr. Albert Alejo SJ, an associate professor of sociology of the Loyola School of Theology of the Ateneo de Manila University.

The Caloocan bishop said he met Alejo on February 9, when that priest asked if they could meet due to a “pressing concern.”

“I expected only him but he came accompanied by a man whom he did not even properly introduce to me,” David said.

David on Advincula: 'Stranger to me'

He added they met only briefly and was told that the “man’s life was in danger, that he was being pursued by a drug syndicate he used to work with, and that he needed a sanctuary.”

David said that people knocking on the gates of the Church is not uncommon as it sometimes extends help to people who feel that their lives are in danger.

“I told the priest that, so far, we have provided sanctuary only to crime-witnesses whose lives are in danger, not to people who may have been involved in crimes themselves,” David continued.

The Caloocan bishop said that the word “drug syndicate” felt like a warning to him. “I also advised him to seek help from people who might be in a better position to help deal with the man’s alleged situation and, at the same time, to check on the veracity of the man’s story,” he added.

Referring to Advincula, David said: “He came and left as a total stranger to me.”

Advincula, who claimed to be “Bikoy,” made a stunning about-face on his earlier accusations last month. While he first stood by the contents of the “Ang Totoong Narcolist” video series that linked the Dutertes to the illegal drug trade, he surfaced three weeks later and then tagged opposition personalities behind the video series.

READ: The shifting narratives on the 'Bikoy' videos, according to Peter Advincula

Advincula tagged David and Lingayen-Caloocan Archbishop Socrates Villegas—both having been at the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s tongue-lashing—in the supposed plot to take down the government.

RELATED: A look at the Church's 'tirades' vs Duterte | Barbs and the Bible: The continuing clashes between Duterte and Bishop David

David said: “It was not until months later, when the man who had appeared as the hooded Bikoy on videos in social media, removed his hoodie and identified himself as ‘Peter Joemel Advincula’, that I recognized the chubby bespectacled young man I had briefly met on Feb. 9, 2019.”

Villegas had denied meeting Advincula as he pointed out that he was in Bataan when the supposed meeting in Quezon City happened.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana already said the military has not monitored any major, active plot to oust the president.

In an interview with GMA News Digital last week, he said in a mix of English and Filipino: “We have some intelligence people going around. We have good intelligence operations people. We do not have any feelers [of an ouster plot].”