‘We want an end to this media war’
TEN days after ABS- CBN entertainment anchor and reporter Gretchen Fullido filed sexual harassment cases against them, former ABS- CBN News executive Cheryl Favila and segment producer Maricar Asprec sought an end to the “media war” and appealed to the public to “take a closer look at what is happening in this Fullido case against us.”
The duo, in a statement, said since Fullido made her case public, they have been “trying to pick up the pieces of their lives.”
“Please remember that I was found NOT GUILTY of sexual harassment by the panel that investigated the case. Despite this finding, I was dismissed. I considered taking legal action against ABS- CBN and Fullido, but Maricar and I decided that it would be too difficult and painful to fight against such powerful parties,” Favila said.
“When TheManilaTimes released an article where Fullido’s allegations were discussed, this without bothering to hear our side, we were distraught. The document that Fullido filed with the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office, of which we still have to secure a copy, was published,” she said, lamenting that she was painted as a sexual predator.
On October 7, two days after Fullido filed her complaint, The Times published a report detailing the cases against Favila and Asprec, as well as the libel complaint Fullido filed against news executives Ces Drilon and Venancio Borromeo and reporter Marie Lozano.
The report carried the statement of Evalyn Ursua, legal counsel of Favila and Asprec. Ursua said the story behind Fullido’s “baseless charge of sexual harassment” was a complicated one and involved personal, professional, and political matters.
On October 9, The Times sought Favila and Asprec’s side through their Ursua and was directed to the pair’s counter-affidavits and position papers they made public through the Facebook page “Stand with Cheryl Favila and Maricar Asprec.”
“Those 21 years that I worked hard to build a professional career based on integrity was gone,” she lamented.
“For Gretchen to bring the matter public, which was already resolved internally causing me to loss my livelihood, is a malicious misrepresentation of the very real issue of sexual harassment. We had no choice but to release documents from our side to minimize the damage to our integrity and reputation.”