MANILA - Actress Katrina Halili’s road manager on Wednesday filed a libel case against Irene Kho, mother of controversial cosmetic surgeon Hayden Kho.

Omar Sortijas lodged his complaint before the Cavite Provincial Prosecutor's Office. The manager, a resident of Rosario, Cavite, was accompanied by his legal counsel, lawyer Raymund Palad.

In her May 25 interview with “TV Patrol World,” Irene accused Sortijas of providing illegal drugs to Halili.

Sortijas denied it and countered that it was irresponsible of Irene to make that allegation against him. He said, after watching Irene’s interview on TV, he cried because his family got affected by the issue.

"Kung anong sabihin natin sa media, let's be sure sa kung ano ang sinasabi natin. May mga pamilya din naman na naapektuhan dito," he said.

"We find it libelous and damaging sa kanya kasi in-accused siya as nagpo-provide ng drugs, which in reality is drug pushing… So tama lang na we resort to legal process. Instead of attack sa personalidad ng tao sa media, we go to the process. Nag-file kami ng libel," Palad, who is also the legal counsel of Halili, added. 

Sortijas, who stressed that he never met Irene, said he did not know why his name was dragged into the sex scandal.

"Walang bearing. Hindi ko alam kung saan nanggaling. I never met her. That was the first time. I saw her sa TV lang," Sortijas said.
 
This is the second libel complaint filed against Kho’s mother. On May 29, Halili filed two counts of libel against Irene for accusing her of using drugs. With a report from Jorge Cariño, ABS-CBN News