Hontiveros befuddled by VP’s preview of witness’ affidavit

Senator Risa Hontiveros questioned Vice President Sara Duterte’s apparent prior access to the supposed affidavit of Michael Maurillo, alias “Rene,” the former witness in the Senate investigation into Apollo Quiboloy’s alleged crimes.

In an interview on Thursday, Hontiveros responded to Duterte’s call to Maurillo to file charges against the individuals who supposedly helped him fabricate his testimony against Quiboloy.

“I would have no objection to that. And if Michael Maurillo, alias Rene, made an affidavit against me and against the other witnesses against Apollo Quiboloy and the KoJC, and if it is again full of lies like the ones he said in his video, then that could possibly open him up to charges of perjury as well as the cyber libel that I filed yesterday,” Hontiveros said.

“And of course, I’m very, very curious — how did VP Duterte see that affidavit even before Michael Maurillo released his video?” she added.

On Thursday, Duterte was interviewed in The Hague, Netherlands about Maurillo’s recantation of his testimony against Quiboloy and the Dutertes, where she said that Maurillo should pursue cases against those who pressured him to make his false testimony.

“That is a very serious accusation, and it should be answered clearly to get to the bottom of things,” she said in Filipino and English.

“If alias Rene believes that he should also file a case, then he should do that so he can tell the truth in court, and so the accused can properly respond in court as well,” Duterte added.

Maurillo had claimed during the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family, and Gender Equality’s investigation into the alleged crimes of Quiboloy last year that he personally witnessed the Dutertes visiting a Quiboloy property and leaving carrying bags of firearms.

Last month, he recanted his testimony and claimed that he was paid P1 million by Hontiveros to give false testimonies against Quiboloy and the Dutertes.

Hontiveros denied the claim by presenting evidence that it was Maurilio who had reached out to her office last year to expose Quiboloy’s alleged wrongdoings.

She has since filed cyber libel charges against Maurillo and six online personalities, and hinted that perjury charges may also be pursued depending on the contents of the affidavit.

The opposition lawmaker believed Maurillo’s recantation was part of a “coordinated and systematic” attack against her and the Senate witnesses.

“As to whether the reason or the motivation is tied up with politics, well, anything is possible, but we were no longer able to investigate that, which is why I sought help from the National Bureau of Investigation. And in any case, my main concern is what Michael Maurillo and the people or groups behind his video are doing. Those vloggers who spread his video and even added their own lies,” she said.

“These are coordinated and systematic attacks, and not just against me. They are against the witnesses who found the courage—despite their fear as victim survivors—to tell their truth. These witnesses, who previously had no voice and are being championed by the Senate through our investigation, are now being silenced again, having their voices stolen,” she added.

Hontiveros had presented screenshots of Maurilio asking for financial assistance from her office but he was turned down to avoid giving the wrong impression that witnesses were being paid.

Days after Maurillo’s video was released, she said he again reached out to her office to seek help, claiming he was being abducted.

In the message, Maurillo said he was kidnapped and brought by members of the KoJC to Glory Mountain, the 21-hectare property of the sect in Tamayong, Calinan, Davao City.