ABS-CBN entertainment anchor Gretchen Fullido and former supervising producer of TV Patrol Cheryl Favila both aired their sides on the “Bank Bar Incident” which was one of the reasons why the host filed a sexual harassment complaint against the latter.
The incident took place on March 9, 2017. In Fullido’s affidavit, she said that she and Favila met at a bar at The Fort, Taguig City to discuss the revival of her TV Patrol segment “Tara Grets”.
Fullido narrated, “She then proceeded to compare me to my peers, Marie Lozano and Gretchen Ho, and told me I was different from them. She specifically told me, ‘I like you’ and added that she likes me in a different way compared to the other girls whom she is close to.”
“She then glanced at my chest and bit her lips. I was placed in a very awkward situation. This night confirmed my suspicion that her intentions were never professional since the very beginning. I felt violated and manipulated by her. I was trying my best to divert the conversation by making jokes and changing the topic so as to not offend her because she is after all still my boss,” the entertainment host added.
However, Favila strongly denied the accusations in her Answer Affidavit, saying: “The biting of lips is a mannerism that I’ve had since I was young. I do it unconsciously. Also, looking down is me thinking. Other people look up when they think. I look down. I am a very feeling person… So I may have bit my lip and looked down during the conversation, but I definitely did not look at Gretchen Fullido’s breast.”
Favila countered that she never had any sexual interest or motives towards Fullido on the night of the said incident, and even on other night prior and after that.
“I categorically deny that I made any sexual advance towards Gretchen Fullido that night or on any other occasion. I have never behaved towards her in a manner that could be remotely considered inappropriate or sexual,” she said.
Favila also said that she cannot recall a time when she told Fullido that she liked her whether through text or in person.
“I never said ‘I like you’ to Gretchen during that night. In fact, I never said ‘I like you’ to her ever, whether in a conversation in person or by text or online.
“Nor did I ever say to her that I like her in a ‘different way compared to the other girls’ that I am close to. It was Gretchen Fullido who texted ‘I love you’ to me once,” her statement further read.
