Cheryl Favila, former supervising producer of TV Patrol, and Maricar Asprec, segment producer for the same show, issued a statement seeking an “end to the media war” after ABS-CBN entertainment reporter Gretchen Fullido filed sexual harassment lawsuits against them.
In their statement, Favila and Asprec told the public to “take a closer look at what is happening” in their legal battle with Fullido.
They said that ever since the cases were publicized, 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 in the statement.
It can be recalled that, in an article published on The Manila Times, Fullido’s lawyer, Marvin Aceron, shared the formal complaint filed by his client at the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office which contained the text messages that Favila and Asprec supposedly sent to Fullido from 2015 to 2017.
Favila said that Fullido’s allegations were published without “bothering to hear [their] side”, which caused them to feel “distraught”.
Favila lamented that Fullido’s case has affected her reputation as she has now been painted the image of a “sexual predator”.
“I felt that the small remaining opportunity for me to start a new life was going down the drain. Those 21 years that I worked hard to build a professional career based on integrity was gone,” Favila said.
“For Gretchen to bring the matter public, which was already resolved internally causing me to lose 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,” she added.
The accused news producer also said in her statement that there are “disturbing things” she would like to stress.
“Sexual harassment is a public interest issue. I know that whether the person accused of committing it is a woman or a man, regardless of that person’s sexual orientation, at the core of sexual harassment is power,” she said.
Favila said in her statement that Fullido will win the case “hands down” if social capital will be considered as a form of power since she has a big audience supporting her on social media alone.
“We are a lesbian couple, accused of sexual harassment, with very little social capital. Add to that our sexual orientation, which usually generates prejudice,” she said.
Favila also said that they are welcoming the start of the legal battle wherein they will defend themselves and discuss the issue in the “proper forum”.
“We would have waited for the legal process to start; we would have wanted to quietly defend ourselves in the legal space where we would be able to present our evidence in full, without the pressure of public opinion. Unfortunately, Fullido’s public actions gave us little choice but to go public in our defense,” she said.
“We want to exercise rights responsibly in the proper forum. We will welcome the start of the legal process. It cannot come soon enough. We say this in good faith, bearing in mind the interests of all abused women, and those who struggle against discrimination,” she added.
