Niño Muhlach cries in Senate, recalling how Sandro trembled over incident

Actor Niño Muhlach burst into tears as he told a Senate committee how his son Sandro trembled when the latter told him about the incident that is now the subject of complaints before the National Bureau of Investigation and GMA Network, Inc.

At the hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media regarding abuse and harassment in the mass media industry, Muhlach said, “Kaya talaga ako nasaktan nung kwinento niya sa akin yung nangyari."

"Kasi para makita mo ‘yung anak mo na nanginginig at hindi niya halos mahawakan ‘yung telepono niya nung kwine-kwento niya sa akin yung ginawa sa kanya," Muhlach said.

(I was hurt when he told me what happened. I saw him shaking and almost could not hold his phone while narrating what was done to him.)

Muhlach said Sandro first told his brother Alonzo about the incident.

“Sabi sa akin ni Alonzo, sinabihan daw siya ng kuya niya na, ‘Bro, sana huwag mangyari sa iyo ‘yung nangyari sa akin,’” he added.

(Alonzo told me that his older brother told him, ‘Bro, I hope what happened to me will not happen to you.’) 

Nino said if such incident could happen to his family, which is quite known in the showbiz circle, what more to other artists, especially the new ones.

“Hindi ko naman po binubuhat ‘yung aming bangko pero sa isang pamilya na talagang naging malaki na ang kontribusyon sa industriyang ito, what more na sa iba? What more sa mga baguhan?” he said.

(I’m not bragging, but for this to happen to a family that has already contributed so much to the industry, what more to others? What more to newer artists?)

Sandro filed last week a criminal complaint against Nones and Cruz for sexual abuse with the NBI.

Atty. Czarina Quintanilla-Raz, Sandro's legal counsel, said GMA Network was not one of the respondents in the complaint.

“Right now your honor we are focused on the two,” Quintanilla-Raz said.

Preventive suspension

GMA Network Senior Vice President for Programming, Talent Management, Worldwide, and Support Group, Atty. Annette Gozon-Valdes told the Senate hearing that the Network had preventively suspended its two independent contractors named in the complaint filed by Sandro, a Sparkle artist.

Gozon-Valdes said the network is also conducting its own investigation after Muhlach filed a complaint with human resources (HR) against Jojo Nones and Richard Cruz.

“We immediately issued a preventive suspension order to the two being accused of Mr. Sandro Muhlach. Now we are waiting for their reply because, of course, we follow the procedures of due process,” she said.

She assured the committee that GMA Network will conduct a fair and thorough investigation.

Though Nones and Cruz are not regular employees of GMA, Gozon-Valdes said the two are bound by the policies of the network, including its Code of Conduct.

“Despite the fact that they are independent contractors, we can still take jurisdiction over the HR complaint filed by Mr. Sandro Muhlach and we can still apply our Code of Conduct to this case,” she said.

She also stressed that GMA does not condone sexual abuse.

“At the onset, I would like to reiterate that GMA does not condone, it also does not tolerate, any acts of sexual abuse or harassment,” the GMA Official said.

Muhlach said he requested a meeting with Nones and Cruz after the incident. He said they had apologized.

“Nag usap po kami nina Miss Annette at hinarap nga po ni Miss Annette sa akin ‘yung dalawa at nag apologize po sila sa akin,” Muhlach said.

(I talked with Miss Annette and she brought the two to meet with me and they apologized.)

Muhlach said that two must still be held accountable.

“Ako tao lang ako eh. Diyos nga na marunong mag patawad. Kaya ko kayo patawarin pero kailangan pagbayaran niyo ‘yung ginawa niyo,” Muhlach said.

(I’m only human. If God can forgive. I can forgive you, but you need to be held accountable for what you did.)

Subpoena, denial

During the hearing, Senator Jinggoy Estrada moved to subpoena Nones and Cruz after both did not attend the hearing. He said the "letter of regret" that two sent to the committee was "totally unacceptable." 

His motion was seconded by Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr.

In their letter read by Estrada, Nones and Cruz said they were not employees or part of the management of GMA or the Sparkle Artist Management Agency, which they said were the right persons to discuss the network’s policies.

The two also denied the allegations against them.

“At the onset, we deny all accusations against us. We hope this honorable committee will respect our decision not to attend this hearing,” Nones and Cruz said in their letter.

The NBI has already issued a subpoena against the two as part of its investigation.

Sandro

Aside from Nones and Cruz, Sandro also did not attend the hearing, which Estrada questioned. He initially moved to subpoena Sandro but eventually withdrew it.

Quintanilla-Raz said the actor was not in the mental and emotional state to attend a hearing following incident.

She said the NBI was also conducting psychological assessment on him.

Estrada, however, asked Sandro's camp for a medical certificate to justify his absence.

“I’m asking you if you have a medical certificate coming from a doctor… how can you determine that he is not physically and mentally fit to attend this hearing?” Estrada said.

“If you do not have any medical certificate to prove that he is fit to attend this hearing, fair is fair, I will also move to subpoena him,” he added.

To explain the actor's absence, NBI Public Corruption Division chief Atty. Marie Catherine Nolasco-Illescas said Sandro was advised by the NBI Behavioral Science Division to limit his public exposure so as not to exacerbate his condition.

She said for Sandro to repeatedly relay the incident would affect him psychologically.

This prompted Estrada to withdraw his motion to subpoena Muhlach.

Revilla, meanwhile, later said inviting Sandro to the hearing may cause additional pain and trauma on the actor.

“Kaya nga sabi ko this is very sensitive at dapat talaga ma-handle ng tama. If you're going to invite Sandro here, baka additional, kumbaga, pain na naman para abutin niya ‘yun or whatever trauma na abutin niya,” he said.

(That’s why I said that this is very sensitive and should be handled correctly. If you’re going to invite Sandro here, it may cause additional pain and trauma for him.)

“‘Yung kay Jojo Nones and ‘yung other guy, dapat siguro they should be here and sagutin nila,” he added.

(For Jojo Nones and the other guy, they should be here and answer these allegations.) —KBK/NB, GMA Integrated News