Ending the Claudine Barretto-Carmina Villaruel issue

Talent manager Shirley Kuan held a press conference the other night to put an end to the issue involving Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist Dolly Anne Carvajal and an item that she wrote in her column. Ms. Kuan is the talent manager of Claudine Barretto, the subject of Dolly Anne's column.

Ms. Kuan earlier issued a statement which was released in Showbiz Central last Sunday and we are printing it here:

"There is absolutely no truth to the article written by Dolly Anne dated January 29, 2012 in reference to Carmina walking out of a shoot. The last time Claudine and Carmina worked for a product endorsement was about three years ago. Dolly Anne may well serve her readers by refraining from reporting an imagined story as the truth. Her attention was called through a letter (refuting her story) from Ace Saatchi, the ad agency for Lactum. Carmina has completely and flatly denied the story as well. There is no need for Claudine to comment on this baseless story at this time. She is traveling in Europe with Raymart.

To date, Dolly Ann has so far written three times about this issue in her column. And to think, she even sarcastically wrote, "Go ahead and milk the issue for all it's worth." So now, let me ask you, who's milking it now?

I am not here to pick a fight. I am not even going to ask Dolly Anne to retract her story. I just want to inform the public what is the truth so that they may know. I am speaking in the interest of correcting the lies that Dolly Anne may have sown, knowing that a lie which goes uncorrected soon becomes the truth.

One more time...there is no truth to the story written by Dolly Anne. That's it."

"What prompted me to call this presscon was because of the column that Dolly Anne wrote which was totally untrue. Carmina has denied that something like that ever happened. She had never walked out on her entire showbiz life. And because Dolly Anne, on her Facebook, said that she stands by her story. The agency reacted by sending her a formal letter, correcting her again and giving her the facts of what happened," said Ms. Kuan.

"Let me tell you that unlike Dolly Anne, I check my facts, all of us, we check our facts, even before we open our mouth. The last time Claudine and Carmina worked in a product shoot was three years ago. Why create a story of a thing that have had happened three years ago and concoct such a story? After three years, why?

"Sometimes nakukuryente tayo sa information na dumarating sa atin. Normal iyon sa trabaho natin so our objective was just to correct the wrong information. Ang problema, bawal pala siya i-correct. The agency sent her a letter but what she did was to write something sarcastic in her next column. Concocted pala ang story, bakit kayo kumikibo? So hindi pala kami puwede mag-correct? So kailangan hayaan na lang namin ang mga kasinungalingan? I have other press friends. They don’t behave that way."

Ms. Kuan said she had no other recourse but to correct what had been written by Dolly Anne because it was very damaging for Claudine and Carmina as well as for Lactum, which is her client. "I would like to protect the artists and my client kasi sobra silang magmahal sa artist even up to now. Sobrang asikaso ang ginawa nila sa artists and to us, the managers. We just want to correct that no such thing happened. It’s up for the public to judge who’s telling the truth. Who has more credibility? Let the public judge."

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GMA Network celebrates KAPUSO month with Pinoy Pride and international singing sensation, Charice, as she celebrates Valentine’s Day with all the Kapuso viewers through a television special, "Charice, One for the Heart".

Witness a more mature Charice, listen to her breathtaking voice and be charmed by her powerful stance as she takes the spotlight and performs songs that talk about her wonderful journey as an artist as well as the ups and downs of her family life.

Charice also pays tribute to well-loved OPM love songs as she shares the stage with Pop Balladeer Mark Bautista and RNB Prince Jay-R.

Get to know the latest from Charice as she sings a few hits from her second international studio album "Infinity", and talks about an Asian tour happening very soon. Emotions will outpour as Charice sings to her father Ricky Pempengco, who passed away last year.

Also, don't miss the country's most sought-after love teams, newlyweds, and most celebrated couples, as they share their love stories and give a prelude to each special performance by Charice.

The special is directed by Louie Ignacio and supported by the same team behind the last year's Kapuso Valentine offering, "Charice - Home for Valentine's."

The international singing sensation will once again capture the hearts of every Kapuso viewer worldwide in "Charice, One for the Heart" airing this Sunday February 12, after iBilib only on GMA.