Philippine court acquits TV producers in Gretchen Fullido harassment case

A Quezon City court has cleared two television producers of sexual harassment charges leveled against them by showbiz journalist Gretchen Fullido. Cheryl Favila, a former supervising producer, and Maricar Asprec, a former segment producer at ABS-CBN, were acquitted by Judge Angeli Albana-Garrido of the Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 32.

The case stemmed from an administrative complaint Fullido filed in 2017, alleging that Favila and Asprec sent her text messages containing sexual innuendos and amounting to requests for sexual favors. Fullido claimed her job became more difficult after she rejected these advances. While ABS-CBN dismissed the allegations in July 2018 due to insufficient evidence, the network did find Favila liable for "gross misconduct and unprofessional conduct for using sexually oriented language within a superior-subordinate relationship."

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all doubts should be resolved in favor of the accused

Despite the internal finding against Favila, Fullido later filed criminal complaints for sexual harassment, along with libel complaints against several ABS-CBN executives and colleagues. The text messages cited in the complaint were reportedly taken out of context, according to Favila and Asprec, who consistently denied the allegations.

In a 91-page decision promulgated on August 28, Judge Albana-Garrido cited a fundamental principle in criminal law: "all doubts should be resolved in favor of the accused." The court emphasized that the prosecution bears the burden of proving "beyond reasonable doubt each and every element of the crime charged." As this burden was not met, the producers were acquitted of the charges under Republic Act No. 7877, the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995. Fullido and her counsel have not yet commented on the acquittal.

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prove beyond reasonable doubt each and every element of the crime charged, otherwise, the accused should be acquitted.