CHILD STAR NI脩O MUHLACH ATTENDS SENATE HEARING: Former child star Ni帽o 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. 鈥擲enate Public Relations and Information Bureau
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� There is 鈥渟trong evidence鈥� against the two independent contractors of GMA Network accused of sexually harassing actor Sandro Muhlach, according to a Senate panel investigating the complaint.
鈥淲hat we all understand right now and we agreed 鈥� there is strong evidence against these two gentlemen,鈥� 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.
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鈥淲e 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,鈥� he said.
Gender identity
Both Nones and Cruz, who attended the hearing for the first time, denied the allegations made by Muhlach.
鈥淲e 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,鈥� 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.
鈥淲e 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,鈥� 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.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 do anything bad to you and you know it deep within your heart. It鈥檚 not yet too late to tell the truth,鈥� 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鈥檚 father, former child star Ni帽o Muhlach, read portions of the text messages to prove that it was not his son who initiated the conversation.
Ni帽o 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.