"If I may, 'no, there's just a few things that we need to clarify. One, there was a statement there that we were referring to YES! as well. We never mentioned YES! in our letter. What we said was, this is a demand on PEP's publisher, which is Summit Media. So, the reference to Summit Media was in relation to the fact that they are PEP's publisher."

(Sa sagot ng PEP sa cease-and-desist letter, nilinaw ni Ms. Maglipon na ang PEP ay hindi pag-aari ng Summit Media kundi ng PEP, Inc. Ang YES! ang entertainment magazine na pina-publish ng Summit Media.)

Tanong ni Pia ay kung ang gusto ba nila ay wala na sanang lumabas na artikulo tungkol kay Richard sa PEP.

"Yes..." sagot ni Atty. Maranan.

Pero biglang sumingit si Annabelle. Aniya, "Ako kasi ang nagsabi kay Attorney na sulatan. Ang aming tinutukoy dun, yung kanilang negative comments. Pero yung freedom of the press, nandun yun. Yung lawyer kasi ng kabila, hindi nagbabasa masyado kaya hindi naiintindihan, e. Nandoon yung freedom of the press.

"Hindi naman puwedeng may freedom of the press, lalait-laitin mo na yung tao, sisira-siraan mo na? Wala siyang privacy? Kaya nga meron tayong libel, di ba? Hindi naman kailangan na freedom of the press, puwede ka nang tira-tirahin anytime. Wala ka nang privacy, hindi puwedeng ganoon," pahayag niya.

So, anong legal means ang gagawin nila tungkol dito para itigil na ng PEP ang paglalabas ng artikulo o komento tungkol kay Richard?

"Ini-eplore namin, 'no," sagot ni Atty. Maranan. "May possibility na may civil case o kaya criminal case. Right now, pinag-aaralan pa 'yan. Wala pang sinasampang demanda. In fact, si Ms. Annabelle Rama nga, ang attitude nga niya is ayaw niya lang dagdagan yung gulo. Kasi, as it is, si Richard, nasaktan na, e. You already damaged, you already injured a person. 

"And I think, if you... Freedom of the press comes with responsible journalism, di ba? So, kung responsible, ang hinihingi lang naman namin is huwag nang dagdagan yung sakit. Yung, why put..."

"Insult to injury," susog ni Pia.

"Exactly!" sambit ni Atty. Maranan. "Yung lalagyan mo ng asin yung sugat. Huwag na. Nasa korte na 'to and wala nang need na i-publish pa 'to. Kasi, kawawa naman yung tao... He was a very innocent person here and you're just continuing to damage his reputation."

Sinabi naman ni Pia kay Atty. Santiago na ang dahilan kung bakit hindi nire-retract ng PEP ang artikulo dahil meron silang witness na nakakita diumano ng pangyayari at kasalukuyan nilang iniimbestigahan ang naturang insidente. So, paano ito makakaapekto sa libel case na isinampa ni Richard laban sa PEP?

Ayon kay Atty. Santiago, "First of all, yung sinasabi nila tungkol doon sa istorya na kinukumpletong imbestigasyon, ang masasabi ko lang diyan, ilabas na lang nila. You know, inaanunsiyo pa nilang may istorya. Ilabas na lang nila dahil we are just as eager as the public to find out kung sino ba yung sinasabi nilang witness. Kasi, matagal na nilang sinasabi 'yang witness na 'yan, wala naman silang napo-produce as of now.... It's been two weeks.

"Kaya nga ang komentaryo ng iba, napakahabang imbestigasyon naman 'yan when all the witnesses who were there at the party have already made their statement that, you know, no such incident happened.

"And in fact, I heard your earlier interview with Atty. Annette Gozon-Abrogar and she herself was at the party and she maintained that no such untoward incident happened for that matter. So, yun nga, inaabangan din namin ang istoryang yun. So, ilabas na lang nila."

Ibinalik ni Pia ang tanong kay Annabelle. Meron pa bang posibilidad na maayos ang problemang ito sa labas ng korte?