Genelyn Magsaysay to sue children's accusers

MANILA, Philippines - Former actress Genelyn Magsaysay said yesterday she will file charges against the people who implicated her and her two other children in the Oct. 28 murder of eldest son Ram Revilla (Ramgen Jose Bautista in real life).

In a taped one-on-one interview with The STAR, Magsaysay said her lawyer is already preparing the charges against “some people,” but declined to name names.

“You will just know it,” Magsaysay said, adding her lawyer is just ironing out some “technicalities.”

 Magsaysay declined to categorically name Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., a half-brother of her children, as one of those possible respondents. Revilla Jr.’s media handler, Amy Manzano, said in a phone interview that the senator will no longer comment on any of Magsaysay’s tirades since the case is already under investigation.

During the interview, which lasted nearly two hours, Magsaysay repeatedly said she was incredulous as to why Revilla Jr. was so sure that her daughter Ma. Ramona (nickname Mara) and son Ramon Joseph masterminded Ramgen’s murder.

She recalled one instance when the Revilla family discussed Ramgen’s murder. She could not be sure if the date was Nov. 1 or 2. “At first when we had our meeting together with our children and other members of the family, he (Revilla Jr.) was so sure that it was Mara and Joseph who were the masterminds of the killing,” Magsaysay said.

“I said wait, Senator Bong, I still have to bring my daughter to a psychiatrist because a psychiatrist would know if his or her patient is telling the truth or not,” she added.

Magsaysay’s son Reuben, who accompanied her during the interview, said they even asked the senator to provide them with a lawyer but Revilla Jr. allegedly said “get a lawyer for yourself.” She said the senator could have at least allowed her children to “prove their innocence first.”

She said Revilla Jr. could be using the issue to gain himself good publicity.

Magsaysay also denied that her nine children are quarreling over the money given to them by their father, former senator Ramon Revilla Sr. The problem over the stipend is “between the children and the children of Mommy Cena dahil sila ang may hawak ng kaban. Sila ang may hawak ng baul (because they hold the money),” she said, referring to Revilla Jr.’s mother and Revilla Sr.’s wife, the late Azucena Mortel.

Magsaysay said she and her children know how to “abase and abound” with whatever money they have, especially when their P350,000 monthly allowance from Revilla Sr. was slashed to P150,000 last month.

Magsaysay maintained that Ramon Joseph and Ramona could not be masterminds in the killing. She said she has talked to them and believed their denials. She also said she is “happy” that Ramona fled to Turkey after recanting her statement that she was abducted by Ramgen’s attacker.

“Mas madaling makapag-isip ng tama, ma-visualize niya pangyayari na hindi siya nangagarag dito (It’s easier for her to think straight when she is not stressed here),” she said.

According to Magsaysay, she will talk to her children about her next legal plans. The fight, she said, is not hers alone but the fight of the whole family.