No longer a laughing matter this time for Willie Revillame
WILLIE Revillame, the comedian and game show host notorious for making off-color jokes, is in hot water again.
This time, the noontime TV host was charged with acts of lasciviousness by a tabloid columnist.
In a criminal complaint filed in the Quezon City prosecutor’s office yesterday, Ma. Salvacion Asis, entertainment columnist of Pilipino Star Ngayon and Pang Masa, accused Revillame of making inappropriate sexual advances in March 2002.
Recounting the incident, Asis said she and Ma. Lillian Fariñas, People’s Journal Tonight columnist, were invited by the TV host to his home in Capitol Hills, Quezon City late in the night.
On their way back, Revillame, who was seated in the back seat of his pick-up with Asis, allegedly touched her breasts and forced her to hold his private parts, according to Asis. He also kissed her forcibly on the lips, ears and cheeks, she added.
Revillame allegedly continued his assault even after they reached Mindanao Avenue and had transferred to Fariñas’ van. He kept the columnist in the van for 20 minutes while Fariñas pleaded with him to allow Asis to get off the van, said Asis.
The next day, Revillame begged for her forgiveness, saying: “Have pity on me. If only for my daughter, forgive me,” Asis said. Revillame has a daughter, Meryl, with Vicky Soriano, the sister of actress Maricel Soriano.
Asis said she let it go because she wanted to forgive him, and only broke her silence after three years because Revillame “had not changed,” Asis said. She also did not want Revillame to think of her as someone who could be paid to remain silent, she added.
Revillame yesterday told entertainment reporters he was “shocked” when he heard Asis had filed a case against him. On the news program TV Patrol last night, his lawyer Marie Fajate said the complaint was “malicious and a case of harassment.”
The TV host earlier threatened to file a libel case against Asis and Fariñas after the two wrote about the incident in their columns “Baby Talk” and “Big News,” respectively. Revillame, however, retracted his statement last week.
In her column last April 2, Asis said she decided to write about the incident after she heard a 19-year-old member of the dance group Go Girls also accused Revillame of making inappropriate sexual advances. But in Fariñas’ column last April 4, she said ABS-CBN had asked the Go Girls member to sign a waiver, saying there was no such incident.
ABS-CBN corporate PR head Maloli Manalastas said an investigation was conducted and that Revillame was exonerated, Fariñas said in her column. [source]
April 14, 2005
By DJ Yap, Marinel Cruz
Inquirer News Service
Also published on page A23 of the April 14, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer