'NOT TRUE'. Anabelle Rama INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Actor Richard Gutierrez through his mother and manager, Anabelle Rama, denied an earlier report that he was reprimanded by traffic enforcers for speeding Wednesday morning.
“Richard was already on location for a taping at around 9:30 a.m. in Batangas, how can he be given a ticket for speeding , dong?” Rama told INQUIRER.net in a phone-patched interview at around 10 p.m. Wednesday.
Quoting authorities of the Manila Toll Expressway System, the traffic report said Gutierrez was caught driving a red Chevy sports car at 178 kilometers per hour on his way to Tagaytay City when he was flagged down by traffic enforcers on the southbound lane of the South Luzon Expressway, in front of Eton City in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
“He doesn’t own a red Chevy sports car in the first place. Whenever he has out-of-town taping, he uses his black Savannah GMC. That’s the one he is using right now,” Rama told INQUIRER.net.
Rama added his son usually catches up on his sleep whenever he travels for a taping and his personal driver, Rene Flores, is always the one manning the wheels. There were also times when Gutierrez, a cycling enthusiast, would prefer to bike his way to Batangas together with his fellow cyclists.
Not the first time
The news on Gutierrez’s alleged traffic violations had gathered negative reactions among netizens and the public because it wasn’t the first time the actor figured in such incident.
Almost 11 months ago, or on May 17, 2011, Gutierrez was initially reprimanded by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) for speeding on Commonwealth Avenue—popularly known “the killer highway” —reportedly on his way to a taping in Bulacan.
He was using a brand-new white Audi that went faster than the required 60kmh speed limit.
The MMDA traffic enforcers eventually confirmed it was not Gutierrez who was driving the Audi but his driver named Erning.
Rama also clarified on Wednesday night that while it was true the Audi was her son’s car, it was her personal driver, Mang Erning, not her son’s driver, Rene Flores, who was driving for him last year.
She clarified Mang Erning and Rene Flores are two different persons.
“Back then, I let him borrow my driver, Mang Erning, because his personal driver, Rene, was sick at the time,” said Rama.
Asked for clarification on her personal driver, she said, “I can’t recall the surname of Mang Erning, mahirap i-pronounce, dong (It’s hard to pronounce).”
Summer and the road to-and-from Tagaytay
Early morning on May 22, 2009, Gutierrez, already the prized talent of GMA7, figured in a car accident when his Nissan Skyline GT-R crashed into a pole on a blind curve in Silang,
Cavite. He was with his long-time assistant Nomar Pardo and bodyguard George Matsura.
Gutierrez and Matsura were injured while Pardo died in the accident. At the time, Gutierrez admitted he was the one driving the car.
Richard Gutierrez. INQUIRER file photo
They were on their way down to Metro Manila from a taping, coincidentally, in Tagaytay City.
Originally posted at 09:59 pm | Wednesday, April 18, 2012