A day after Piolo Pascual and Sam Milby filed a libel case against Lolit Solis, the talent manager-TV host went on the offensive, claiming she has in her possession a video of Piolo at the Pasay hotel where she had claimed in her tabloid column seeing them sharing an intimate moment at a coffee shop.
This article became subject of the 12-million-peso libel case, in which Lolit claimed to have caught Piolo and Sam sharing a “sweet” moment at the Hotel Sofitel poolside café.
Lolit emphasized in an interview Saturday with the GMA-7 talk show she co-hosts, “Startalk”, that Piolo was a liar for claiming he was not at Sofitel in the afternoon of Oct. 12. The video in her possession, she said, would prove it.
“Sinungaling si Piolo Pascual. Sinungaling siya nung sinabi niyang wala siya sa Sofitel nung October 12 nung alas-dos ng hapon. May nakuha kaming video na bumababa siya sa Hummer niya at that time sa mismong hotel at that time. Kaya sinungaling siya,” Lolit said.
Lolit however said she does not have any proof that Sam was in the hotel at that time.
“Kay Sam wala akong nakuhang ebidensiya. Walang nakapag-patunay sa Sofitel na nandoon si Sam. Per okay Piolo marami na kaming testigo na nandoon siya nung araw na yon.”
Lolit also stressed that other entertainment columnists had even made direct reference to Piolo and Sam as being gay but were not sued.
“I refuse to get mad. Kasi biro mo sumusulat si Alfie Lorenzo, minsan direkta pang sinasabing gay si Piolo. Sina Pete Tamboloquio, sina Peter Ledesma, diretsang sinasabing baklita si Piolo at si Sam, bakit hindi nila iyon idinemanda? Bakit ako na sinabi ko lang nagbubulungan? Hindi ko naman sinabing naghahalikan silang dalawa. Di ba?,” Lolit added.
She also declared she was not after any publicity and that Piolo and Sam were the ones getting most mileage.
“Para saan ko gagamitin ang publicity? Hindi kaya ako ang nagagamit? Feeling ko ako ang ginagamit ngayon. Merong concert si Piolo. May concert si Sam. Tuwang-tuwa sila na ngayon nila fi-nile yung ano. Eh di ginagamit nila ako kagaya ngayon, front page sila sa lahat ng tabloids at saka newspaper. Eh di ang nagamit ako. Di ba? Dapat nga, kung alam ko lang na aabot sa demandahan ito, hindi ko na sinabi talagang nagbubulungan lang sila. Sinabi ko na nakita ko silang naghahalikan.”
Lolit said she was very much prepared for a court battle, even spend time in jail, to prove she was not “concocting” the story.
“Kung matutuwa si Sam at si Piolo, na makulong ako, ngayon sisenta na ako. Siguro mga tatlong taon bago madesisyonan ito, sisenta-itres na ako. Gusto pa nilang makulong ako, okay lang. Tutal, mga Christians sila, di ba? Mababait silang tao. Wala silang malisya. Di ba? Okay lang.”
“Sabi ng abogado nila, during the conference, gustong daw pumasok ni Sam sana sa restroom. Pero hindi nila pinayagan dahil nandoon si Piolo. Baka daw sabihin nag-se-sex daw sila sa restroom. Di ba? Kaya pinigilan nila. So, eto ang masasabi ko. Sana hindi magkasakit sa pantug si Sam at ibintang na naman sa akin. Sabihin naihi si Sam sa pantalon niya dahil kay Lolit Solis. So sana huwag nila ibintang. Ngayon, kung sila tunay na lalaki, hindi sila dapat magpa-epekto dito. Bakit kayo nina Janno at saka ni Ogie, kanina, naghahalikan kayo, masasabi bang bading kayo? At bakit ba sila nagbubulungan lang, natatakot na sila? Di ba? Kung ako sila, next time magpakita kayo sa akin, huwag na kayong magbulungan, maghalikan na kayo ng lips to lips.”
Recently in libel Category
Piolo Pascual and Sam Milby were true to their word in their vow to sue Lolit Solis if the talent manager-TV host did not retract her report in her tabloid column last month that she saw the two actors in a Pasay hotel coffee shop in an intimate chat. The Inquirer and Inquirer.net report by Allison Lopez published on Nov. 17 said:
"Movie actors Piolo Jose Pascual and Samuel Lloyd “Sam” Milby yesterday (November 16) filed a P12-million libel suit against show biz columnist Lolita “Lolit” Solis at the Manila City Prosecutor’s Office, for portraying them as “gay men” in an Oct. 15 newspaper column.
In their joint complaint, Pascual and Milby named Solis and Pilipino Star Ngayon’s entertainment editor Veronica Samio as respondents in the case that stemmed from an item in Solis’ 'Take It, Take It' column, where she claimed to have seen the male singers being 'sweet' in the poolside coffeeshop of the Sofitel Hotel around 4 p.m. of Oct. 12.
The two talents of ABS-CBN’s Star Magic were mobbed by fans and curious onlookers when they personally went to the Manila City Hall to attest to the authenticity of their joint affidavit around 9 a.m. yesterday (November 16).
'Her story was absolutely without any factual basis. We were not at Sofitel Hotel on Oct. 12, 2007. We were not even together on the said date,' the two said in an underlined and boldfaced portion of their joint complaint.
In their complaint, Pascual and Milby said they were 'outraged' when they learned about Solis’ article.
'Apart from being a complete lie, it contained words and phrases sufficient to leave in the minds of the readers that we are gay men engaged in a romantic dalliance, an imputation which seriously damaged our reputation as bankable actors,' they said.
Attached to the complaint was a copy of Solis article titled 'Piolo at Sam, huling huling naglalampungan,' and a letter demanding from Solis a public retraction of her article and a public apology.
Since Solis refused to renounce her 'defamatory' statements and even issued a 'purported apology' in her talk show in a rival network, Pascual and Milby said they decided to sue her for libel in order to clear their names.
Though she did not directly use the term 'gay men' in her article, the complainants said the words and phrases that she used—like 'kakaiba,' 'sweet,' and 'halos magkadikit na nga ang mga pisngi,' were sufficient to make the readers understand that they were such.
The five elements of libel, they claimed, were present in Solis’ case: that it was defamatory, made publicly, malicious, directed at a natural or juridical person, and tends to cause dishonor, discredit or contempt of the person/s defamed.
Being celebrities or 'public figures,' said Pascual and Milby, did not give Solis a 'blanket license' to rummage into their private lives and malign their reputations.
For publishing the story, they said Samio was equally liable for libel under Article 360 of the Revised Penal Code.
The two product endorsers sought P5 million each in moral damages due to the 'mental anguish, besmirched reputations and social humiliation' caused by the article and P1 million each for exemplary damages."
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For her part, Lolit remained defiant and stood firm in her claim that she saw the two actors at the Pasay hotel coffee shop. She downplayed the charges and would look forward to see the respondents in court. A separate Inquirer report by Entertainment reporter Bayani San Diego published on Nov. 17 said:
"After actors Piolo Pascual and Sam Milby filed a libel suit against her yesterday (November 16), talent manager, entertainment columnist and TV host Lolit Solis remained unperturbed.
In a phone interview with the Inquirer yesterday, she reiterated that she was standing by her story, which came out in her column “Take It, Take It” in the Oct. 15 issue of the tabloid Pilipino Star Ngayon.
In her column, Solis reported that she saw the two actors in the poolside coffeeshop of Hotel Sofitel on Oct. 12.
'I saw them with my two eyes,' she asserted. 'I’m sorry if I hurt their feelings, but I cannot retract my story.'
She dismissed allegations that she didn’t actually witness the incident and that it was only relayed to her by a friend.
'It would be easy for me to retract if it were based on hearsay. But I’m sure about what I saw,' she said.
In separate statements, Pascual and Milby both denied Solis’ column item.
'We were not at Sofitel last Oct. 12 so the entire article is a fabrication, a concocted story,' Milby said.
Solis insisted that she merely said that the two actors were 'nagbubulungan [whispering to each other].'
'I’m wondering why Piolo and Sam are so upset when previous articles that have been written about them are far worse,' she said.
'It’s not [the right] defense. Just because previous stories are bad doesn’t give you license to do the same,' countered Joji Alonso, Pascual and Milby’s counsel, along with Lani Barcenas and Peachy Selda.
'We are suing because our dignity and integrity have been assailed … She has disrespected us as colleagues and human beings and the only way left to restore this respect is through the courts of law,' Pascual said.
Solis said the two actors’ legal action didn’t catch her by surprise.
'Even if I had apologized or retracted my story, they would still push through with the case. As a result of this issue, they are continuously in the news. As we say in show biz, good or bad publicity is still publicity. Piolo has a concert. Sam has a concert. They’re getting free publicity because of this case,' Solis explained. 'They are the ones benefiting from this scandal. Not me. Why are they filing the case only now when previous stories about them had been worse?'
'That is not true. If she retracted, Piolo and Sam wouldn’t have pursued the case,' Alonso said."
