Caloocan bishop says he met briefly ‘Bikoy,’ not Trillanes

One of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte‘s critics has already answered the allegations of Peter Joemel Advincula aka “Bikoy”,which the latter said to which the latter said he met Caloocan City Bishop Pablo Virgilio David in a meeting.

Bishop Pablo Virgilio David said he had a “brief” encounter with Bikoy but clarified that the meeting between him, Advincula and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV was a false report.

Advincula claims that he was in a meeting with Senator Trillanes and several priests, including David, to discuss the videos in a move to oust President Duterte in Malacanang and ensure the loss of administration backed candidates in the last concluded mid term elections.

Bishop Pablo Virgilio David (photo credit to owner)

“The man’s (Advincula’s) claim that I had met with Senator Trillanes and a certain Jonel on February 9, 2019 in my residence in Caloocan City was a blatant lie. I said, in fact, I had never even met the senator in person.

But Advincula himself? I did not realize until three months later that I had actually encountered him—albeit briefly,” David said in a Facebook post.

David said he “briefly” met Advincula on February 9 through Fr. Albert Alejo who asked for his advice over a “pressing concern.”

Fr. Alejo is the priest who Advincula claimed to be the one who introduced him to Senator Trillanes as well.

“Fr. Alejo had texted a few days before asking if he could drop by my residence the soonest possible time that my schedule could accommodate. I told him it was a very busy week but, if he did not mind coming early at 7:30 a.m., I could spare him a little time on Saturday, February 9. His purpose? To ask for my advice about a ‘pressing concern,’” David said.

“I expected only him but he came accompanied by a man whom he did not even properly introduce to me. Since I could spare less than an hour and was rushing to another appointment at 9 a.m., I met them only for a little while, over coffee,” David added.

Advincula’s life being in danger and was pursued and that he is need of a sanctuary.

Bishop David, however advised Alejo that they have only provided sanctuary for cime-witnesses and “not to people who may have been involved in crimes themselves.”

“Situations like these are not new to us; the Church does indeed sometimes provide sanctuary to people who feel that their lives are in danger,” David said.

“The word ‘drug syndicate’ came across as a warning signal to me. 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,” Bishop David added.

The brief meeting, David said, ended without him asking Advincula’s name.

“He came and left as a total stranger to me,” the Caloocan City Bishop said.

“It was not until months later, when the man who had appeared as the hooded Bikoy on videos in the social media, removed his hoodie and identified himself as ‘Peter Joemel Advincula,” that I recognized the chubby bespectacled glib-talking young man I had briefly met on February 9, 2019. He was indeed the man who had sought help, claiming his life was in danger, that a whole drug syndicate was after him,” the bishop added.

The bishop further narrates that he felt initially guilty not helping Advincula, but later on would realize that his decision was right if not he would have provided a sanctuary to a “snake.”

“Back then I even felt a little guilty that I had not offered more help than I could. Perhaps if I had not been in such a rush, I would have followed my instincts and naively provided sanctuary to a SNAKE! Thank God I was somehow reminded of Jesus’ warning, ‘Be innocent as doves but clever as serpents,’” David said.

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Report from PDI