Court issues warrant for Annabelle's arrest

MANILA, Philippines - A Quezon City court yesterday issued an arrest warrant against Annabelle Rama after she failed to attend her arraignment for a libel case filed by former actress Nadia Montenegro.

Judge Eleuterio Bathan of the Regional Trial Court Branch 92 cited a court rule that the accused in a case is required to attend his or her arraignment. The talent manager’s lawyer, Derick Delegencia, said she was merely unavailable for the court date.

Montenegro’s lawyer, Marie Glen Abraham, cited that under the new Quezon City court rule, the accused is required to attend arraignments except if he or she has an illness.

Earlier, the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office found probable cause to charge Rama with 14 counts of libel for her alleged remarks against Montenegro during television interviews.

Montenegro also claimed the talent manager had tweeted malicious statements.

Aside from the libel case, Rama was also charged with grave oral defamation and two counts of unjust vexation.