Philippine Entertainment Portal
MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE 04/03/09; 11:56am) On Tuesday, March 31, 2009, Brink Notes Entertainment Daily has reported that the Philippine Entertainment Portal issued a statement regarding a report published on PEP saying that Richard Gutierrez and Michael Flores had a confrontation at director Mark Reyes’ birthday celebration.
The report also said that the confrontation between Flores and Gutierrez led into a gun-toting incident. Epy Quizon, son of the “Comedy King” Dolpy was also named in the report.
The inadvertent uploading of the said report on the website had caused a rift among PEP, Annabelle Rama and Richard Gutierrez. The report was pulled out of the website immediately after an angry Annabelle Rama called the attention of editor-in-chief Jo-Ann Maglipon.
Maglipon, in behalf of Philippine Entertainment Portal appeared in front of the press Tuesday afternoon to publicly apologize to the involved parties and its readers.
“The fact that the article was uploaded before the interviews could be completed is what I am apologizing for. It was very unfair to Richard Gutierrez, to Epy Quizon and to Michael Flores,” Maglipon said in a statement.
But, Annabelle Rama is determined to file a case against the entertainment news website despite the public apology of its editor-in-chief. Rama, in an interview called Maglipon’s apology to be insufficient and demanded for a direct-to-the-point apology. She also said that her son Richard Gutierrez would file a separate case against the entertainment website.
“Kung itutuloy ni Annabelle Rama ang demanda sa PEP, ibig sabihin wala siyang isang salita. Kasi, ang sabi ko sa kanya, if you want this correction in PEP and I appear before the press that means that hindi ka na magdedemanda, Tita Anabelle. ‘Oo, may isa naman akong salita.’,” Maglipon said in a television interview.
Atty. Sandy Olaso-Coronel, PEP’s legal counsel said that people behind PEP are still hoping that Rama would keep her promise to Maglipon that she won’t file against the site if Maglipon apologizes in public. Coronel said that PEP is ready to defend itself if Rama decided to file a case against PEP.
“Well, habang umaasa ang PEP that Annabelle will keep her promise to Jo-Ann, kung talagang magdedemanda siya, sasagutin natin ang habla. Naka-ready naman ang PEP na depensahan ang sarili nito,” Coronel said in an interview.
“Ang PEP, ang obligasyon ng PEP sa publiko ay mag-deliver ang balita tungkol sa sinumang artista. They were just doing their job nang in-investigate nila ang insidente. Doon sa public apology, inaamin naman ng PEP na nagkaroon ng pagkukulang sa pagsunod sa standard operation nila in uploading an article. Hindi yun nasunod, aminado ang PEP. Pero, hindi mo maiaalis na may istorya na dapat isulat,” Coronel added.
Richard Gutierrez has reacted on the issue Thursday evening.
“Walang katotohanan ‘yong nakasulat doon. Walang gulong nangyari. Lahat po ‘yon kasinungalingan at lahat po ‘yon naimbento lamang. Bilib nga ako sa gumawa noon dahil ang ganda ng imagination niya, eh. Pero kung ano man ang nakasulat doon, I’m sure kung ano man ang totoo, lalabas. Unang-una po, gusto kong klaruhin na nagkaroon po kami ng agreement ng PEP na binigyan po naming sila ng chance na sabihin kung ano ‘yong totoo. Si Jo-Ann Maglipon po ay nag-apologize siya for the wrong reasons. She apologized na hindi niya nakuha ‘yong side namin. Hindi niya sinabi na nagkamali sila at imbento ‘yong mga nakasulat doon sa PEP at fabricated stories at false journalism ‘yong nangyari,” said Richard Gutierrez in a TV interview.
With reports from Rose Garcia and Jojo Gabinete of Philippine Entertainment Portal
