NEWSFLASH

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ABS-CBN PROSTITUTION VIDEO A SET UP -- YNEZ

Manila, Nov. 20, 1998 - Movie star Ynez Veneracion has not yet recovered from the humiliating experience brought about by an episode of ABS-CBN's new show "Correspondents" which gave the impression she was engaged in prostitution.

The Inquirer published prominently the story of Ynez complaining about how "ABS-CBN framed me up."

''I DON'T know why they did it to me. What's their motive?'' she asked, calling what ABS-CBN had done to her as a cheap, dirty shot.

In an interview with the Inquirer's Leah Gatdula, Ms. Veneracion (Sheryl del Rosario in real life) revealed that she and her manager, Lito de Guzman, were asked to go to a room at Rembrandt Hotel, where they were supposed to meet a promoter for her to do a show in Hong Kong. They did not know that there was a hidden ABS-CBN camera in the room.

''Correspondents'' aired what it called an investigative report on prostitution in showbiz, a segment was produced by field reporter Henry Omaga Diaz. The video showed images of Veneracion and her manager, allegedly dealing with a client, which made it appear Veneracion was among the showbiz stars engaging in high-class prostitution.

The following night, Wednesday night, ''TV Patrol'' host Noli de Castro identified Veneracion as the woman in the "Correspondents" video.

Veneracion told the Inquirer that said she has no plans of filing a case against ABS-CBN, denying rumors that she would file a damage suit against ABS-CBN for besmirching her personality.

''Correspondents'' host Mari Kaimo, meanwhile, told the Inquirer their show never intended to destroy Veneracion's image or any of the people who were being exploited. ''We never had any intention of coming out with who it was,'' Kaimo said. ''We have heard that kind of stuff was happening in the industry, so we felt that was a good story to expose.''

Kaimo even suggested that Veneracion should not have come out to identify herself as the woman in the stolen video shots.

"She should not have done it," Kaimo said. "She should have kept her mouth shut and the Philippines would not have known. The report was never about her."