MANILA, Philippines — Peter Advincula, who claims to be the whistleblower “Bikoy” who linked the Duterte family to the illegal drug trade, formalized his senatorial bid on Tuesday, Oct. 8.

He was the early bird at the Manila Hotel Tent City for the final day of filing the certificate of candidacy for the 2025 elections.

Jailed in 2021 and eventually convicted of perjury, Advincula is pushing for a centralized correctional system in the country.

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“Sometimes, we treat [persons deprived of liberty] as dregs of society, but there is still time for them to be reformed,” he said in an interview.

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Advincula, who admitted to being the hooded figure in the viral “Ang Totoong Narco-list” videos, was meted an indeterminate penalty of at least three months and one day to a maximum of one year and one day in prison.

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On May 6, 2019, Advincula surfaced at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines main office in Pasig City, claiming to be the whistleblower Bikoy in the videos.

However, on May 23, 2019, after the opposition shutout in the May 13 elections, Advincula said his previous claims were false and the videos were part of a scheme to unseat then-President Rodrigo Duterte hatched by the Liberal Party and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.

Judge Karla Funtila-Abugan of the Manila Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 17 sentenced Advincula to an indeterminate penalty of at...

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