Radio broadcaster and columnist Tony Calvento is in hot water after a 23-year-old writer-trainee filed charges of acts of lasciviousness and sexual harassment against him before the Pasig City prosecutors office yesterday afternoon.
But Calvento said she was trying to get back at him because she failed to land the job.
Shiela Mae Milan, of Sta. Rosa, Laguna, said in her 11-page affidavit that Calvento, who hosted the “Hustisya Para sa Lahat” over dwIZ, repeatedly uttered malicious words and even kissed her inside his office last Feb. 5.
Milan, who filed the complaint before Pasig City assistant prosecutor Leoncio de Guzman, said Calvento asked her “prying questions” starting Jan. 23 when she reported to work as a writer and staff of his radio program.
“Out of the blue, he asked me if I am a conservative person. I was taken aback by that uncalled-for question. While he was asking me that question, as if he was already looking inside my blouse, specifically at my breast area,” the complainant said.
She said Calvento asked her if she could pose in a magazine wearing a two-piece swimsuit while telling her she would only be hired if she would pass a one-week training.
On Jan. 29, Calvento, the affidavit stated, asked her if she had undergone a vaginal examination.
“After lunch, he discussed about a rape and murder case for the program. He wanted me to be familiar with the case and asked me to read the resolution of the case.”
Last Feb. 5, Milan said Calvento suddenly pulled her poncho and stared closely at her breast and told her to remove the poncho.
In the evening, she said Calvento asked her to come to return to his office so he could take “just two photos” that he would give to a person at RPN-9. While inside, the respondent allegedly kissed her on the lips.
Milan said she could not stand Calvento’s behavior and decided to file the case even if it meant not getting a job at all.
Calvento said she was told that her services were no longer needed afternoon of Feb. 5 and was given until Feb. 6 to stay.
He said the decision not to employ her was advised by former Sandiganbayan Justice Harriet Demetriou, who does pro bono services for callers. “Why don’t you just tell her to look for another job,” Calvento quoted Demetriou as saying.
“On the night of Feb. 5, at 7:05 p.m. she returned to the office alone to appeal that she be given another 15 days,” Calvento told Standard Today in a telephone interview.
Calvento admitted that he advertised a vacancy as one of three staff was about to transfer to a marketing office but did not push through.
“I even gave her siomai and P300 for taxi fare and asked my driver to accompany her out of the building. I can’t understand why she is doing this to me. This is not my style,” he said. “She was the one who even asked my driver to get the digital camera for her, kasi meron lang daw siyang kokopyahin [because she had something to copy]. She was even overheard by my driver talking to someone on her cell phone saying, ‘Andito pa ako sa Ortigas, pero papunta na ako d’yan [I am now in Ortigas, but I am going there]’.”
Calvento noted that it was only on Feb. 6 that he learned Milan took blank Hustisya and Justice Department forms which she had copied.
“Aalis na lang siya [as she was leaving], she requested me to employ her mom in my outlet in Laguna.” –Gigi Muñoz David, Manila Standard Today
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