Niño Muhlach says son Sandro is battling depression, GMA contractors deny sexual abuse allegations
Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of depression and sexual abuse.
Niño Muhlach said his son Sandro is suffering from depression following the sexual abuse the latter allegedly experienced from two independent contractors of GMA Network.
“May depression, kaunting depression, and pati pagkain niya naapektuhan, pagtulog. Pero hopefully in the coming days, sana mag-improve,” he said in an interview on GMA’s 24 Oras.
Niño claimed that Jojo Nones and Richard Cruz—the contractors indicated in Sandro’s formal complaint—have apologized to him for what they allegedly did.
“Actually, nakaharap ko na ‘yung dalawa eh and they apologized to me,” he said. When asked whether they admitted to the allegations, he answered, “As to my understanding, yes.”
Nones and Cruz shut down sexual abuse allegations
The accused denied the sexual abuse accusations and filed a counter-affidavit through their lawyer Atty. Maggie Abraham Garduque.
“At the onset naman, sinabi namin na there’s absolute denial of all the allegations being accused of our clients,” Garduque told reporters, as seen in 24 Oras’ report.
“This is very disheartening to them. Napakahirap para sa kanila na maakusahan ng ganito na wala pa namang kaso na isinasampa sa kanila pero sa social media, makikita niyo na parang hinatualn na sila,” she added.
This comes a few days after Garduque told PhilSTAR L!fe that Cruz and Nones will ask to dismiss the case, “not only for lack of evidence to substantiate the elements of sexual harassment/sexual assault, [but] worse, his evidence is contrary to his allegations.”
“In the formal complaint, one of the allegations of Mr. Muhlach was he was lured by our clients to go up to the hotel room. However, his own evidence proves otherwise,” Garduque pointed out. “Based on the text messages, it was Mr. Muhlach who messaged Mr. Nones with ‘Andyan pa ba kayo sir Baka po pwede dumaan saglit haha,’” said Garduque.
The names of Sandro, Nones, and Cruz have been making the rounds on social media after a local entertainment news website published a blind item claiming that two program executives harassed a newbie artist in a hotel room.
The alleged incident happened while an extravagant gathering took place on the hotel's premises, the report said.
GMA recently held its gala night last July 20 at the Marriott Grand Ballroom in Newport Pasay City.
On Aug. 1, GMA issued a statement saying they received a formal complaint from Muhlach against Nones and Cruz. It did not specify the issue involving the three individuals.
GMA News reported that Sandro was with his father when he filed the complaint at the NBI. The Sparkle artist, in a text message sent to the media outlet, said, "Hindi po ako OK pero kakayanin ko po."
If you think you, your friend, or your family member is considering self-harm or suicide, you may call the National Mental Health Crisis Hotline at 1553 (Luzon-wide, landline toll-free), 0966-351-4518 or 0917-899-USAP (8727) for Globe/TM users, or 0908-639-2672 for Smart users.