Joey accepts Kris’ challenge to undergo lie detector test

He’s ready to take a lie detector test.

Parañaque City Mayor Joey Marquez has picked up the gauntlet thrown down by his former lover, actress and television host Kris Aquino, in the aftermath of their acrimonious and well-publicized breakup.

Over ABS-CBN on Wednesday night, Aquino dared Marquez to take a lie-detector test with her to determine who between them is lying. Marquez accepted Aquino’s challenge.

Marquez denied Aquino’s accusation that he had become violent and threatened her with a gun in an interview simultaneously broadcast over GMA 7.

During his interview Wednesday night, Marquez said, "I have nothing to fear. I can face it all." Responding to queries about Aquino’s accusation that he had infected her with a sexually transmitted disease, the Parañaque mayor chuckled before answering "that accusation is pretty serious."

He also denied making an issue of Aquino’s past relationships whenever they fought in an attempt to turn the tables on her.

Aquino’s relationship with Marquez began shortly after the breakup of Marquez’s 12-year marriage to actress Alma Moreno.

He has four children with Moreno and has filed for an annulment of his marriage shortly after they separated two years ago.

Aquino accused Marquez, of "cocking and poking a gun at her" Monday night and of demeaning her person with verbal and physical abuse.

A visibly furious Aquino said she had put up with Marquez’s womanizing and verbal and physical abuses — including biting insults and demeaning remarks about her personality — because she had been "blinded" by her love for him.

Speaking in Filipino, Aquino said "I was that stupid. I took it (the abuse) for so long. I forgot the way my mother brought me up. I was that blinded by my love for him."

Aquino said she had become so furious with Marquez’s philandering that, during their much-publicized row, she grabbed his genitals and "wanted to crush it."

Besides his post as mayor of Parañaque, Marquez is a comedian on television sitcoms.

Spare The Children

Moreno, in an exclusive interview with GMA 7’s Frontpage, raised the possibility that she and her husband could have reconciled if not for Aquino and that their failure to reconcile had hurt their children.

Moreno said she had forgiven Aquino and sympathizes with her as a woman, but that she "cannot judge Joey… He is the father of my children."

She said that during their 12 years of living together as husband and wife, "Joey — not even once — poked a gun at me" and appealed to Aquino to settle her differences with Marquez out of the limelight.

"I beg of Kris, she has a child… whatever she and Joey had started, they have to settle," Moreno said.

She said that when Aquino and Marquez "were living together, I never said anything. I have kept my silence."

She also said the Aquino-Marquez affair has her "in great pain. I don’t want to tell a lie. I’ve told my children to learn how to forgive."

The actress was near tears, and her voice cracked several times during the interview.

Moreno added that her children were hurt by their separation, and this new controversy has hurt them again.

"My children are affected… They are hurt. Up to now, they are still victims of whatever happens to Joey… I pity my children."

The actress, when asked if she had a message for Aquino, said, "Kris, Joey loved you. He genuinely loved you because he turned his back on me and our kids just to be with you. We were in the process of getting a church annulment so he can marry you eventually."

Moreno told her estranged husband to "pray to God, the truth will come out… I had always said every person has a right to be happy. "

Readiness To Help

The Philippine National Police (PNP), meanwhile, expressed readiness to administer a lie detector test to Aquino and Marquez at Camp Crame in Quezon City once she makes a request.

PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil said the PNP Crime Laboratory has the polygraph machines and experts and is likely to administer the lie detector tests Aquino said she was willing to undergo.

"The (polygraph) equipment is there and they can always be used once requested by any party," Bataoil said.

The PNP sees no problem if both Aquino and Marquez want to be administered the polygraph test, Bataoil said.

However, he did not reply to queries of whether or not the PNP is ready to allow media coverage and a live televised broadcast.

The PNP said it is ready to treat both Aquino and Marquez fairly and impartially once they both agree to the polygraph exams.

It will be recalled that Aquino, accompanied by her brother, Tarlac Rep. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III and their lawyers, sought the help of PNP Chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. on Tuesday night and had the violent argument between Aquino and Marquez recorded on the police blotter.

But, while the PNP is willing to administer the polygraph test, it cannot file criminal charges against Marquez unless Aquino files a complaint, Ebdane said at a press conference at the National Police Commission (Napolcom) office in Makati City.

Meanwhile, female lawmakers in the House of Representatives have asked Aquino to file charges against Marquez and fight for her rights as a human being and as a woman.

Aurora Rep. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo, a lawyer and principal author of the Anti-Abuse of Women in Intimate Relations bill, said women, especially those who are in abusive relationships, "should be aggressive in exercising their rights."

"There must be legal action so that everyone will know that women are aware of their rights and are willing to defend them," Castillo said.

She said the measure has already passed third reading in the House and is pending before the Senate. – With Paolo Romero