Actor Richard Gutierrez on Monday afternoon filed a P25-million libel suit against entertainment Web site Philippine Entertainment Portal (PEP) for allegedly fabricating a story that besmirched his reputation.

Gutierrez was accompanied by his family when he lodged his complaint before the Makati Fiscal’s Office.  

The respondents are editor-in-chief Jo-Ann Maglipon, managing editor Karen Pagsolingan and writer Ferdinand "Bong" Godinez.

“I'm doing this not only for myself but for my family, for my fans and maybe for the whole industry,” Gutierrez said.

“Nakakalungkot ang araw na ito para sa amin kasi siyempre kasamahan din namin sa industriya ang sinasampahan ni Richard ng kaso,” Gutierrez’s sister, Ruffa, said.

Late last month, PEP came out with a story on alleged gun-toting incident that purportedly occurred during a birthday celebration of a director in Pasay City.

According to PEP’s story, Gutierrez purportedly pointed a gun at another actor, Michael Flores, during a fight. PEP said it had two witnesses to verify the report.  Both Gutierrez and Flores, however, vehemently denied it.

PEP's editor-in-chief, Joan Maglipon, later apologized to Gutierrez for "the premature and inadvertent uploading of the article" but the actor and his family were not satisfied.

Gutierrez slammed Maglipon for apologizing “for the wrong reasons.” He pointed out that PEP should have cleared his name and admitted that the story was false. With TV Patrol World