Controversial celebrity Gretchen Barretto is in the news again.
She is being mentioned in show biz talk shows and news reports over an alleged incident said to have happened in early June in which her credit card was declined in a posh restaurant located in a Makati five-star hotel. As she presented her credit card to pay the bill for her dinner with Ruffa Gutierrez, Pops Fernandez and a non-showbiz friend named Josie, Gretchen was informed that the bank had declined the card.
According to the reports, Gretchen had answered back to the waiter, “That cannot be, we own the bank.” The cashier then tried several times to get the bank’s approval but failed. Ruffa instead paid the P4,000++ bill in cash. Reports also said that Gretchen’s long-time partner, businessman Tony Boy Cojuangco had rushed to the scene and tried to settle the problem. But, the reports added, the couple ended up quarreling over the incident.
As a result of the controversy, Gretchen told entertainment columnist Ricky Lo that she was seriously considering leaving the country for good.
In an exclusive interview with Philippine Entertainment Portal (PEP) on Thursday, Gretchen’s manager Boy Abunda confirmed that the incident did happen but clarified that the card was not declined because the transaction exceeded the credit limit or it was due to deactivation. Abunda said the whole brouhaha was a result of a hardware malfunction of the restaurant’s card reader. The machine’s magnetic stripe reader was not able to read Gretchen’s card, he said.
Boy also clarified that Gretchen was not leaving the country because of the incident. He clarified it was the couple’s plan even before to accompany their daughter Dominique in her studies abroad. Gretchen and Tony Boy’s relationship remained strong, Boy said.
Boy did not confirm or deny Gretchen’s “we own the bank” remarks to the waiter and the argument between Gretchen and Tony Boy. He also could not determine why Gretchen did not attend Ruffa’s recent birthday party or confirm that her no-show was a result of the incident. But, he said Gretchen and Ruffa were already on speaking terms.
He also said he was “not privy” to an alleged incident wherein Gretchen had fumed at PEP and YES! Magazine Editor-in-chief Jo-Ann Maglipon for breaking the story on the online portal.
Boy was also asked if it was indeed Ruffa’s personal assistant who leaked the incident to the press. Boy said it was “immaterial”. He revealed Gretchen is using the credit card again,
July 8th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
so many questions…answers, anyone?ü
July 7th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Akala ko ba mayaman si Greta, e bakit isa lang credit card?
Si Boy Abunda naman nagtatanga tangahan na kunwari nga machine malfunction.
mga walang silbe.
July 7th, 2008 at 11:10 am
“we own the bank”
hahaha… “we”?????
July 7th, 2008 at 11:02 am
My card was declined a couple of days ago at Jewelmer. Same thing, the machine would not read my card. The assistant at Jewelmer called the hotline - which can be called 24 hours, Monday to Sunday - and gave the details of my card and my purchase. Voila! It was approved. It seems there was a problem with the stripe reader of the machine.
Now it seems silly to me that a five star hotel like Dusit with the current hot restaurant, Umu would not go out of its way to do such a standard practice for anyone especially someone as popular as Gretchen B.
If this is what happened, then at the very least there should be a public apology from the hotel and the restaurant to La Greta because of the all the negative publicity that this incident with her credit card seems to be generating.
Now, it makes me wonder why the hotel is not saying anything? Huh? Could it be that wonder of wonders, even the significant other of the owner of the bank does not pay her credit card bill?
Tsk tsk tsk. Oh by the way, my earrings in Jewelmer cost me PhP20,000 and my credit card did not even flinch with that amount.
I guess thats cause I PAY FOR MY OWN BILL. I do not expect someone else to pay it for me!
Hmmmmm.
July 7th, 2008 at 8:03 am
she said “we own the bank” , shes not even married to tony? i think the incident is a backfire to her primadonna attitude. the problem with filipino actors and actress they is they try to be the person that theyre not, most of them live in illusion , wake up !