Sara Duterte urges alias Rene to file charges after recanting

Vice President Sara Duterte has called on former Senate witness Michael Maurillo or alias Rene to file charges after he claimed that he was influenced to testify against her, former President Rodrigo Duterte, and detained pastor Apollo Quiboloy. 

The Vice President made the remark Tuesday when asked in an interview in The Hague, Netherlands about her reaction that alias Rene took back his testimony against them. 

"That is a very serious accusation and it should be answered clearly kung ano ba talaga ang nangyari (to get to the bottom of things)," Duterte said. 

"Kung sa tingin ni alias Rene na dapat siya ay dapat mag-file din ng kaso, ay dapat na gawin niya din 'yun para nasasabi niya 'yung totoo sa loob ng korte at nakakasagot din ang maayos 'yung mga akusado sa loob din ng korte," she added. 

(If alias Rene thinks that he should also file a case, then he should do that so that he can tell the truth in court and the accused can also answer the charges properly.) 

Before his recantation, Rene testified before the Senate committee chaired by Senator Risa Hontiveros that he witnessed the Dutertes carrying firearms from Quiboloy's property.

Hontiveros on Wednesday filed separate cyber libel complaints with the Department of Justice (DOJ) against a lawyer, five social media personalities, and alias Rene. 

This came Rene, in a video posted on Facebook, alleged that he was paid by Hontiveros to speak lies against Quiboloy and the Dutertes.

The senator, in return, called the video "fake news" and "witness tampering" as she asserted that the former Senate witness was not coerced to testify in the hearing. 

Sara also alleged that Rene had interactions with supposed witnesses in the case of her father Rodrigo before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

"Nabasa ko na 'yung affidavit niya bago pa man siya lumabas publicly. In fact, mayroong mga nakalagay doon na nakasama niya ang mga witnesses kuno ng ICC doon sa isang bahay kung saan siya pinatira ni Senator Hontiveros," she said.

(I have read his affidavit even before he went public. In fact, there were some things written there, that he was put in a house with the supposed witnesses of the ICC, by Senator Hontiveros.)

She also said the alleged false testimony should be a cause of concern.

"In fact, sinabihan ko din ang lawyer ni President Duterte noon na mayroon nga gan'un na statement 'yung witness against Pastor Quiboloy na ngayon ay nagsasabi na hindi totoo 'yung mga sinabi niya. Sinabi niya na nakasama niya sa tirahan ang mga witnesses ng ICC," Duterte added.

(In fact, I also told President Duterte's lawyer that the witness against Pastor Quiboloy had made such a statement and now he is saying that what he said was not true. He said the ICC witnesses were with him in a house.)

Last week, Hontiveros filed a complaint with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) against Rene and the Pagtanggol Valiente social media account, which posted his videos.

She also asked the NBI to investigate the individuals behind Pagtanggol Valiente, noting that it was created on the day after Maurillo's last message to the senator's camp asking for help, as well as other vloggers.

Curious Risa

Meanwhile, Hontiveros questioned how the Vice President got hold of Rene's affidavit before his video was published on social media.

"I am also very very curious kung paano nakuha ni VP Sara ang salaysay ni Michael ahead of his fake news video (I am also very very curious how VP Sara got a copy of Michael's ahead of his fake news video)," the senator said in a statement.

She also maintained her stance that the claims Rene made in a video were lies.

"I stand by the statements I made earlier na pawang kasinungalingan ang nasa video (I stand by statements I made earlier that everything claimed in the video is false). If Michael has executed a new affidavit containing lies about me and the victim survivors of Quiboloy, then in my opinion this opens him up to perjury in addition to the case I filed today," Hontiveros added. — VDV, GMA Integrated News