Herlene Budol and Rob Gomez | Image: @herlene_budol IG
Herlene Budol again defended herself from bashing that followed her supposed leaked conversation with her “Magandang Dilag” co-star Rob Gomez, saying the messages were nothing but lines of their script, blended with her own brand of humor as a comedian.
In a lengthy X (formerly Twitter) post, Budol tried to explain the circumstances behind her exchange with Gomez, saying she merely tried to ride with his jokes even though she knew that she was being flirted with.
“Yung batuhan ng mga script para pang kabisado sa mga linyahan ay nahaluan ng mga joke at one-liner tulad ng salitang ‘Kain.’ Ganyan na agad ang tingin nyo sa akin. Sumakay lang ako sa mga joke dahil komedyante ako kahit alam ko fini-flirt ako,” Budol said, referring to a part of the leaked conversation suggesting intimate relations between her and Gomez.
Despite this, the actress-beauty queen said these were all just a facade despite her humble beginnings as a “squammy,” or someone considered trashy or raised in the slums, as she was raised well by her grandparents.
“Squammy man ako sa paningin nyo, hindi ako hayok sa laman. Produkto ako ng broken family. Pinalaki ako ng lolo at lola ko ng maayos,” she said.
“Pero hindi ako ganung babae sa mga binabatikos sa akin. FYI, naka dalawang national pageant na ako, marami nag propose ng indecent proposal sa akin nang malaking halaga. Pero inisip ko nasa maayos naman karera ko at gusto ko pinag hihirapan, hindi yung one time big time,” she further said.
Data privacy breach
Budol said that whoever leaked their private conversation could be held accountable. “Kung sino man naglabas ng screenshot na yan ay pwede kong kasuhan ng data privacy, defamation, at cyber libel.”
She said that following their exposed private conversations, she found herself unable to concentrate fully on her work.
“Yung tahimik lang ako at kaliwa’t kanan babad ako sa taping. Yung di ako maka focus sa trabaho dahil sa issue ng mag-jowa na may anak. Tapos malalaman ko nakaladkad na lang pangalan ko at binabash ako na wala naman akong ginagawa,” she said, referring to Gomez’s relationship with another beauty queen, Shaila Rebortera, which whom he has a daughter.
Gomez earlier went on Facebook to say that he has no access to his phone, implying that his social media accounts where the leaked conversation were released could have been hacked.
Aside from the former “Wowowin” host, also dragged into the issue was their co-star and fellow beauty queen Bianca Manalo, as her conversations with Gomez were also publicized.
Manalo, who is in a relationship with Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, claimed that the majority of her conversation with Gomez were deleted to show malicious intent. She lamented that online bashing hurt her and her family, who are currently in Japan.