Senator Revilla says Genelyn, brood were not kicked out of Parañaque house

MANILA, Philippines—Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. has disputed the statements made by Genelyn Magsaysay, mother of his murdered half-brother Ramgen Bautista, saying the Revilla clan did not kick out Genelyn and her brood out of the Parañaque house.

Revilla Jr. pointed out that “no one asked Genelyn and her family to move out of their home in BF Parañaque,” contrary to claims she made in an interview with GMA 7 aired Sunday.

“It’s their house,” he said, referring to Genelyn and her children’s Parañaque address. “It’s under their name. Hindi sila pinalayas. (They were not thrown out of the house),” Revilla Jr. told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a phone interview on Sunday.

He also denied Genelyn’s claim that he has been using the resulting controversy surrounding Ramgen’s death to protect his future political plans.

“What kind of publicity is this? Is this good publicity? Our entire family has been affected negatively by all this,” he said.

Revilla Jr.’s half-siblings Ramona and Ramon Jose Bautista have been tagged as suspects in Ramgen’s murder.

“I’m not a re-electionist. I’m a senator until 2016. I am not benefiting from the controversy at all,” Revilla Jr. said. “Who wants this kind of publicity?”

The intrigues have been doing more harm than good, Revilla Jr. said. “Wala kaming ginagawang masama sa lipunan (We are not doing anything illegal, any harm to the society.) We just want to protect our father’s name, which he worked hard to build for so many years.”

In her past and present pronouncements on Facebook and in television interviews, Genelyn’s tirades against Revilla Jr. have assumed a “political” slant.

In the face of the political intrigues, Portia Ilagan, spokesperson of Revilla Jr., questioned Genelyn’s credibility.

“We just have to take her statements for what they are. She herself admitted that she has been depressed, that she’s sick. The people around her say that she is under medication,” Ilagan told the Inquirer. “Why is she criticizing Senator Bong and his family when they’ve been trying to help her and her children from the start?”

An unidentified source said that someone influential has been aiding Genelyn, “but it’s not from the Revilla side.”

“During Ramgen’s wake, Revilla Jr. offered the services of a lawyer to Genelyn,” Ilagan recounted. “But Genelyn refused saying that Senator Bong’s lawyer might sabotage RJ’s defense. Baka raw ilaglag si RJ. (They might throw RJ under the bus.)”

Ilagan told the Inquirer that Genelyn should be more discerning. “She said that she doesn’t know anymore who her friends and enemies are. But she should realize that the Revillas are her allies. Senator Bong and his family will never wish them harm. The Revillas and Genelyn want the same thing: justice for Ramgen.”

Dennis Manzanal, lawyer of Ramona, said on Sunday that he did not have Genelyn’s contact number and that “a relative of Genelyn’s called him whenever his services were needed.”

A source said that the same relative has been brokering Ramona and Genelyn’s television appearances.

Manzanal declined to name Magsaysay’s intermediary, though.