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Manila Bulletin devider Entertainment devider Court dismisses 2 acts of lasciviousness cases filed by Sandro Muhlach vs Nones, Cruz 

Court dismisses 2 acts of lasciviousness cases filed by Sandro Muhlach vs Nones, Cruz 

Published Feb 13, 2025 01:52 pm

A Pasay court dismissed two cases for acts of lasciviousness filed by actor Sandro Muhlach against Jojo Nones and Richard Cruz, both independent contractors of GMA Network.

In an omnibus resolution, the Pasay Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 46 granted the motion to quash filed by Nones and Cruz and dismissed the two cases of acts of lasciviousness.

“In view of the foregoing disquisitions, the Motion to Quash is hereby granted. The instant cases are hereby dismissed,” Presiding Judge Rechie Ramos-Malabanan wrote in the decision.

Last year, Muhlach filed a complaint for rape by sexual assault and acts of lasciviousness against Nones and Cruz with the Department of Justice.

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Sandro Muhlach (Instagram)

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Richard Cruz and Jojo Nones during a Senate hearing about Sandro Muhlach's complaint last year (Photo courtesy of Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate Social Media Unit)

The prosecution filed a case of rape by sexual assault against Nones and Cruz before the Pasay Regional Trial Court of Pasay Branch 114, and two cases of acts of lasciviousness before the Pasay MeTC Branch 46.

In dismissing the charges, the court scored the prosecution for “overkill” by filing the two cases for acts of lasciviousness when these are deemed included in the rape case.

“Indeed, the acts of lasciviousness being complained of before this court are necessarily included in the charge of rape before the RTC. Again, the prosecution resorted to an overkill by filing the instant Informations for Acts of Lasciviousness when clearly the acts are constitutive and/or simultaneous and are deemed absorb in the rape case with the alleged sole intent and purpose of arousing and ultimately gratifying the accused' own sexual desires,” the court ruled.

The Pasay court pointed out that “in the cases at bar, each Information correctly charges a single offense for both accused. However, pursuant to the prosecution's indication of conspiracy, it resulted to the absurd situation wherein each accused might still be punished twice for the same offense. This is an overkill and a blatant circumvention of the rules on multiplicity and/or duplicity of suits.”

“The two (2) charges of Acts of Lasciviousness filed against the two (2) accused referring to the same or similar acts are jointly and simultaneously filed by the prosecution. Certainly, the accused can no longer satisfy the requirement of a legitimate acquittal or conviction considering that these two (2) assailed Informations would be decided likewise jointly and simultaneously,” the court added.

Lawyer Maggie Abraham-Garduque, who is representing Nones and Cruz, lauded the court decision.

“We are very happy that the court saw the legal infirmity that we had been raising since the onset of the case,” she said.

Reacting to the court decision, Muhlach said they will file a motion for reconsideration.

“The case wasn't dismissed, just one of the charges. The court removed the acts of lasciviousness charge because it's already part of the sexual assault case, which is still ongoing,” he posted on Instagram Stories,

He added, “Meaning, mas matindi ang magiging kaso. But we will still file motion for reconsideration for acts of lasciviousness. Hindi sila makakalusot dito at ilaban ko to hanggang huli! I will make sure na hindi na kayo makakaulit sa iba! #ENDRAPE.”

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Sandro Muhlach
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