NEWSFLASH

SOMEONE ELSE MAULED MOTORIST -- GOMA

Quezon City, May 13, 2000 - Movie actor Richard Gomez denies any role in the mauling of an office employee, who claims he was mauled for honking his truck’s horn while the actor was shooting a TV show.

Gomez, a presidential adviser on youth and sports, said he has video tape of the confrontation with Ricci Lalic, who has filed a complaint of physical injuries against the actor. Lalic, 29, is an administrative assistant at the University Center Foundation, a non-government organization.

Gomez admitted that he confronted the complainant for honking his horn repeatedly in the middle of a TV show taping, but said that it was ''someone else'' who hit Lalic. Gomez refused to identify the alleged lone assailant.

''The video will not lie. If he (Lalic) will persist, I will file counter-charges against him, for perjury,'' the actor said.

''He was punched by someone else, not by me. And he certainly was not beaten to a pulp (May sumuntok sa kanya pero hindi ako, at saka hindi siya nabugbog),'' he said. ''All the action was captured on video. I've already asked for a copy from ABS-CBN. It will form part of my evidence.''

Lalic had accused Gomez and his two unidentified ''bodyguards'' of beating him up in the afternoon of March 27 at the gate of the UCF office along Scout Albano, QC, just across the ABS-CBN entrance, then the site of Gomez's taping for his weekly sitcom ''Richard Loves Lucy.''

About a week after the incident, Lalic was interviewed on the show biz tele-magazine ''Star Talk'' and demanded a public apology from Gomez.

But this demand angered the actor-spportsman.

''Why should I say sorry? He even dragged my wife (Lucy Torres) into this.'' He was referring to a portion of the complaint wherein Lalic claimed only Torres could pacify Gomez during the alleged assault.

Asked why confronted Lalic, Gomez said he was irked when Lalic’s impatient horn-honking disrupted the TV show’s taping.