Senators see ‘strong evidence’ vs accused in Muhlach case

CHILD STAR NIÑO MUHLACH ATTENDS SENATE HEARING: Former child star Niño Muhlach expresses his frustration during a Senate inquiry over the alleged abuse and harassment of his son, Sandro, perpetrated by two GMA Network independent contractors. —Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau

MANILA, Philippines — There is “strong evidence” against the two independent contractors of GMA Network accused of sexually harassing actor Sandro Muhlach, according to a Senate panel investigating the complaint.

“What we all understand right now and we agreed … there is strong evidence against these two gentlemen,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, referring to Jojo Nones and Richard Cruz.

Estrada made the remarks after the Senate committee on public information held its second hearing on the issue as part of an inquiry held in aid of legislation on the policies of television networks and artist management agencies regarding complaints of abuse and harassment.

READ: Niño Muhlach bares text exchange between Sandro, Jojo Nones

“We will just withhold all the information until all the pieces of evidence that are going to be gathered by the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) are in,” he said.

Gender identity

Both Nones and Cruz, who attended the hearing for the first time, denied the allegations made by Muhlach.

“We did not commit any form of sexual harassment or abuse against Sandro Muhlach. By this time, in front of you, we deny all of these damaging accusations against us,” they said in a prepared statement they read during the proceedings.

They lamented that their gender identity was being used to link them to the sexual abuse allegations.

“We are not denying that we are gay. In fact, being gay is one of the reasons why we became creative, artistic, and had the skills needed in the industry. All our lives we used our being gay in a good way to support our family,” they said.

They also appealed to the public to refrain from judging and crucifying them as convicted criminals as they urged Muhlach to come forward and tell the truth.

“We didn’t do anything bad to you and you know it deep within your heart. It’s not yet too late to tell the truth,” they said.

The Senate panel then held an executive session, as requested by Nones and Cruz, to discuss certain matters, including the apparent exchange of text messages between Muhlach and Nones before the alleged abuse happened.

Sandro’s father, former child star Niño Muhlach, read portions of the text messages to prove that it was not his son who initiated the conversation.

Niño also said that during an earlier meeting, Nones and Cruz apologized to him in the presence of GMA Network senior vice president Annette Gozon-Valdes.

But Nones clarified during the hearing that their apology was not an admission of wrongdoing.