Ahron Villena. Image: Instagram/@ahronvillena
Director-writer Ronaldo Carballo seemingly came to the defense of his friend and fellow director Joel Lamangan, who is apparently linked by netizens to actor Ahron Villena’s confession of having experienced being “exploited” by an unidentified director.
Villena earlier spoke up about a director who allegedly took advantage of him when he was just a newcomer in show business.
The actor said he was prompted to speak about his experience after the director—amid the sexual abuse case involving actor Sandro Muhlach—remarked that such harassments have long been rampant in show biz.
While Villena did not name anyone, netizens presumed that the director he was referring to was Lamangan, with some pointing out that the actor’s confession came after the director’s Philippine Entertainment Portal interview about sexual abuse.
Villena has yet to confirm or deny this assumption, but a supposed statement of Lamangan alluding to the matter made rounds on social media.
Carballo then clarified that the statement is fake, and that Lamangan personally denied to him that he said such.
“Pagkabasa ko nito, alam ko nang hindi si direk Joel Lamangan ito,” Carballo said on his Facebook page on Monday, Aug. 26, showing a screenshot of the fake post.
“Hindi siya ganito magsalita. I verified it to Direk Joel. True enough, kinumpirma niyang hindi siya ito,” he added.
Carballo further noted that several “shameless” individuals have been using Lamangan’s name on Facebook to share nonsense posts. “Please stop putting words at Direk Joel’s mouth!”
No one was also named in the fake post, but Carballo seemingly presumed that it was related to Villena’s prior revelation.
“Hindi para patulan pa niya (Lamangan) ang starlet na ito. Obvious namang isa na naman siyang nakiki-ride-on, dahil sa kaso ni Sandro Muhlach,” Carballo stated.
Carballo then addressed Villena and said, “Magtigil ka, Aaron Villena! Tama na ang pakikisakay sa isyu at paggamit ng tao para mapag-usapan ka lang. Wala kang mapapala sa ganyan!”
Meanwhile, producer Dennis Evangelista also dismissed the fake statement attributed to Lamangan. The former further stressed that Lamangan is currently busy, and that he has no time to comment on the recent revelation of an “artist.”
Villena has yet to respond to this as of this writing.