Rama finally arraigned

TALENT manager Annabelle Rama yesterday pleaded not guilty to the 14 counts of libel filed against her by former actress Nadia Montenegro. Rama was finally arraigned on the charges before Judge Eleuterio Bathan of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 92 in connection with the supposedly malicious statements she made on Twitter and in television interviews about Montenegro. The court, meanwhile, ordered both women to work things out in the Philippine Mediation Center as mandated by court regulations. The case stemmed from a child abuse complaint Montenegro filed against Rama who used to manage the former’s two teenage daughters. Montenegro had claimed that Rama had overworked her children. “The court told us to talk and undergo mediation proceedings and submit a report on the results a month after,” said Rama’s lawyer, Howard Calleja, after the arraignment. Earlier, Rama was ordered arrested by the court after she failed to attend her arraignment on June 11. The talent manager voluntarily surrendered to the court a week later and the 14 arrest warrants the judge had issued against her were recalled. “Everything is possible,” Calleja said when he was asked if an amicable settlement could be reached between his client and Montenegro although he added that it was still too early to tell. The 30-day mediation period means that no hearings will be held by the court in the meantime. However, Montenegro was quick to dismiss the possibility of reaching a settlement with Rama.