Actress Amalia Fuentes included TV host-columnist Bianca Gonzalez in the libel suit she filed against Annabelle Rama on June 13. This was because of an article she wrote on Annabelle and her husband, Eddie Gutierrez, for her column in The Philippine Star on February 12, in which she apparently recounted an incident involving Amalia but didn't contact her for her side of the story before publishing.
In two separate interviews for ABS-CBN, Bianca apologized to Amalia. "I would like to apologize dahil sa wala namang taong may gusto ng gulo or makasakit, lalo na ‘yung artikulo ko basically ay feature column, so ang column na ‘yon ay love story ni Tita Annabelle at Tito Eddie," she is quoted as saying in an ABS-CBNNews.com article. "Eh si Tita Annabelle kapag nagkwento siya ay very candid, so nalagay ko ang isang direct quote at I think ito ‘yung naging basis nitong [libel]. (I would like to apologize because no person wants to make waves or hurt someone else, especially since my article is basically a feature column. So my column was about Tita Annabelle and Tito Eddie's love story. And Tita Annabelle is very candid when she talks, so I just put a direct quote in my story, and I think that was the basis for this libel count.)"
But while Amalia accepted the Pinoy Big Brother host's apology, she told PEP.ph that this didn't mean Bianca was off the hook. She said she had felt demeaned by the article's contents. In it, Annabelle shared that Amalia had allegedly been dating Eddie in the past and that she had called Channel 9 to tell Amalia, "Hoy, ang pangit pangit mo, iwanan mo si Eddie Gutierrez!"
Amalia refuted the article's contents in an interview with PEP.ph. "Number one, that incident—paki-highlight mo nga—that incident never happened," she is quoted as saying. "Everything that Bianca wrote is not true, it is a big lie. So, everything that Bianca wrote on that Valentine issue kuno is not true. Ngayon, she should have been more discerning about her subject—kung talaga bang nagsasabi siya ng katotohanan (whether her subject was really telling the truth) or if that’s just for media mileage?"
Amalia added, "I appreciate na [nag]-apologize siya. But still, it doesn’t mean that she’s already off the hook because hindi matutuloy ‘yong one count na ‘yon ng libel without involving her only because, only because, ha, first of all, she wrote something that is irresponsible journalism."
Photo courtesy of Pep and Article courtesy of Female Network
Photo courtesy of Pep and Article courtesy of Female Network
