NEWSFLASH

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RICO J WINS LIBEL CASE

Makati City, May 3, 1998 - Singer Rico J. Puno was acquitted by a Makati court of libel charges filed by a male hairdresser who he accused on TV of molesting his daughter.

Judge Manuel Victorino of the Makati Regional Trial Court said Puno's pronouncements lacked malice, which was one element that had to be proven to make a person guilty of libel.

In his 12-page decision, Victorino contended Puno's utterances which complainant Marie Asuncion deemed libelous were brought by the singer's anger as his daughter, Tosca Camille, then 14, told him the hairdresser sexually harassed her.

Court records showed that on January 18, 1996, Puno was interviewed by Noli de Castro for ABS-CBN's Radyo Patrol TV program regarding the incident where the singer allegedly slapped Asuncion due to his daughter's complaint.

During the interview, Puno branded Asuncion as a pervert victimizing girls by working as hairdresser at Jun Encarnacion's beauty salon in Makati.

The singer said other victims should also file charges against Asuncion and that parents should protect their daughters from hairdressers like Asuncion. He added the owner should fire the hairdresser for such lascivious acts.

Tosca Camille told the court that Asuncion tried to touch her breasts and even clamped her waist with his two legs while cutting her hair.