ABS-CBN accuses Willie Revillame of falsifying P426-M bond

Willie Revillame. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Network giant ABS-CBN has added another case to its legal tiff with its erstwhile millionaire host.

The TV network has lodged falsification raps against Willie Revillame and two others, claiming that the signatures that appeared on the P426-million bond submitted by Revillame to a Quezon City court in 2010, were not the TV host’s.

In an affidavit, ABS-CBN chief legal counsel Maximilian Uy filed charges against the TV5 host, notary public Romeo Monfort and bondsman Reynaldo Fong before the Quezon City prosecutors’ office.

In particular, Uy lodged raps for falsification of commercial documents and falsification of documents by a notary public, punishable by Article 171 and 172 of the Revised Penal Code.

Uy said he was sure ABS-CBN would have obtained the court’s temporary restraining order on Revillame’s new TV show on TV5 had the falsification been established earlier.

The TV network alleged that Revillame’s signature on the P426-million bond submitted to Judge Luisito Cortez of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 84 was forged.

To back up this claim, Uy submitted sample signatures of Revillame in other court documents, in which the signatures were different from the bond.

In 2010, the network had asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order against Revillame who had jumped ship to TV5 and was about to launch a new show, “Willing Willie.”

ABS-CBN filed a P426-million damage suit against Revillame for backing out of his contract.

Later on, the court ordered Revillame to pay the P426-million bond to answer for any damages the network may have suffered.

Monfort was the notary public who notarized Revilame’s joint declaration of his P426-million bond, along with Fong, the vise president of Asia Insurance (Philippines) Corp.

In his 28-page affidavit filed Wednesday, Uy said he was familiar with Revillame’s signature because of numerous documents the host has executed for, and addressed to the network.

“Based on my personal knowledge of and familiarity with respondent Revillame’s signature, an examination of the alleged signatures of respondent Revillame appearing on the subject bond immediately shows that these purported signatures are not the signatures of respondent Revillame.”

He added that in other court documents, no other signature appeared to be “even remotely similar” to the signature found in the joint declaration and bond.

The ABS-CBN chief legal counsel explained that if the allegedly falsified bond was not accepted by the court, the network would have been granted its TRO against Revillame’s new show.

“Complainant ABS-CBN has suffered and continues to suffer damages as a result of respondent Revillame’s submission of the falsified subject bond in a judicial proceeding where complainant ABS-CBN is the adverse party,” Uy said.

The network added that it has suffered damages amounting to P1,707,670,587.84 since November 2010 for each week that Revillame violated his contract with ABS-CBN, which would expire in 2012.