Court junks raps vs Ruffa

A Manila judge has dismissed for lack of merit the estafa charges against actress Ruffa Gutierrez which stemmed from the controversial envelope switching scandal at the Manila Film Festival in 1994.

Manila Judge Felixberto Olalia Jr. of Regional Trial Court Branch 8, also dropped the estafa case against Gutierrez’s younger brother, Rocky.

Olalia, however, ordered the Gutierrezes to pay a sum of P50,000 as a fine. At the same time, the court directed the Manila city government to shoulder the cost of litigation amounting to P500,000.

The judge dismissed the charges after the prosecution failed to answer and contradict the demurrer to evidence filed by the Gutierrezes’ lawyers.

Mauritius Miss Universe contestant Viveka Babajee, PR practitioner Lolit Solis and actress Nannette Medved were also charged with estafa in connection with the same film festival scandal which occurred on June 22, 1994.

Medved turned state witness and admitted her participation in the envelope switching incident. Solis admitted that she orchestrated the scam and was ordered to pay a fine by the court while Babajee was declared persona non-grata in Manila.

Although the prosecution proved the first element of estafa, which is deceit, Olalia said the prosecution failed to satisfactorily establish the presence of the damage, the second essential element in the crime.

"A continuance of the proceeding would be superfluous," the judge said in his four-page order dated June 7.

Ruffa and Medved, who were designated as presentors for the Best Actor Award category, announced the name of Gabby Concepcion as the winner, contrary to the findings of the Sycip, Gorres, Velayo and Co. (SGV), the agency tasked to select the winners. The real winner was Edu Manzano. On the other hand, Rocky and Babajee were the presentors for the Best Actress category. The two announced the name of Ruffa as the winner instead of actress Aiko Melendez.

"While it has been shown that the MFF Committee had spent some P1 million for the project, the records are bereft of evidence to prove the city of Manila suffered pecuniary losses during the event," the order stated.