![Murcia town Councilor Antonio Luis Gonzaga and his lawyer Dax Montealegre held a press conference Thursday afternoon, August 17.[Teresa Ellera photo]](http://media.assettype.com/sunstar%2Fimport%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2F2023%2F08%2F18%2F457343.png?w=480&auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max)
Murcia town councilor Antonio Luis Gonzaga came out Thursday, August 17, and explained the reason for his seven-month absence from the town was that he was allegedly kidnapped and put in rehabilitation centers by his sister and her alleged cohorts.
Gonzaga, with his lawyer Dax Montealegre, said they will file charges against his biological sister and her cohorts for kidnapping and serious illegal detention, grave oral defamation and libel, and civil cases for damages.
Gonzaga claimed that he was abducted on November 8, 2022
when he was summoned to the house of his uncle. "However, when I arrived there, I was immediately handcuffed. They took all my belongings from my body and restrained me against my will by certain individuals who were misrepresented to me as members of the Philippine National Police (PNP)," Gonzaga claimed.
Gonzaga said he was immediately brought to Cebu, allegedly made to sign documents under duress and threats of violence, and allegedly forced to be subjected to drug rehabilitation. "None of it was voluntary. For fear of my life, I complied and stayed at a rehab facility in Minglanilla, Cebu," Gonzaga narrated in a press conference Thursday, August 17.
He also claimed that none of his family, including his fiancee and his son, was informed and that they were kept in the dark about his whereabouts.
Further, he said that sometime in April 2023, he was again forcibly transferred to a wellness center with the instruction to keep him inside for a whole year and to keep his detention secret.
Gonzaga said that he was able to get out of the rehab center through a Writ of Habeas Corpus issued by the Regional Trial Court of Cebu City against the wellness center filed by Montealegre and his family.
"I am not a wanted person. I have not in any way transgressed the law. I am a victim of a fraudulent machination," Gonzaga added.
Meanwhile, Montealegre said that some legal cases pertaining to wealth and properties will be filed by Gonzaga against his close families.*