- Ces Drilon defends self against Gretchen Fullido libel complaints.
- Drilon belied claims she victim-shamed the entertainment anchor over her administrative complaint against a former news producer for alleged sexual harassment.
- On Friday, Fullido filed sexual harassment complaint against former ABS-CBN News executive Cheryl Favila and ABS-CBN News executive producer Maricar Asprec.
- She also filed libel charges against Drilon and another executive Venancio Borromeo as well as reporter Marie Lozano, whom she accused of besmirching her reputation by claiming that she was using the sexual harassment complaint she had initially filed with the company to leverage her employment status.
ABS-CBN News executive Ces Drilon on Friday (October 5) night issued a statement to defend herself against the allegations made by entertainment reporter Gretchen Fullido. The former ABS-CBN news anchor said it is “unthinkable” for her to do what entertainment reporter Gretchen Fullido accuses her of — victim-shaming.
“As a victim of sexual harassment before, it is unthinkable for me to say what Gretchen Fullido alleges I did,” Drilon said in a statement she posted on her Twitter account today, Oct. 6.
She added that she was previously asked to testify in an “internal, confidential investigation” on Fullido’s allegations. Drilon claims that what she said during that investigation “has been distorted.”
“I reserve the right to consider legal proceedings against these false allegations and attack on my reputation,” Drilon said. “Again I would never belittle any woman coming out to speak of any abuse committed against her. It is against everything I stand for as a woman.”
In her complaint, Fullido accused Drilon of resorting to victim-shaming, through “imputed statements that Fullido deserved to be harassed, since Fullido allegedly, was willing to wear a bikini with an inflatable pool with bubbles to shove up the ratings of TV Patrol.”
From Ces Drilon via Twitter: “My statement on the libel case filed by Gretchen Fullido.”
Fullido in filing a sexual harassment complaint against former executive producer Cheryl Favila and segment producer Maricar Asprec additionally filed a libel case against Drilon, Venancio Borromeo, and reporter Marie Lozano.
Fullido claims that the three “besmirched her reputation” after she initially filed a complaint against Favila and Asprec in 2017.