Toni Gonzaga: Vhong still cracking jokes amid controversy

ACTOR Vhong Navarro managed to crack some jokes even though he’s still recuperating from injuries sustained in mauling incident at a condominium in Taguig City, his friend, actress-host Toni Gonzaga said Saturday.

Toni said she immediately visited Vhong in the hospital upon her arrival from the “ASAP ‘14” show in Dubai. She said she tried her best to cheer up the “It’s Showtime” host.

She also didn’t ask the actor to recount his ordeal at the hands of a group of men led by businessman Cedric Lee, who accused Vhong of raping his friend Deniece Cornejo on January 22.

Cornejo filed rape charges against the actor before the Taguig Prosecutor’s Office last week.

Vhong, meanwhile, filed several cases, including serious illegal detention, grave threat and blackmail, against Lee, Cornejo and six others at the Department of Justice (DOJ).

"Hindi na ako nagpa-kwento kasi alam naman na natin lahat, nababasa an natin sa mga balita and hindi na niya kailangan i-relive pa yung pinagdaanan,” said Toni at the press conference of “Starting Over Again,” her upcoming movie with Piolo Pascual.

She hugged Vhong and the latter managed to make fun of things, a good indication, according to Toni, that he's feeling a bit better.

"Nag jo-joke pa rin and hindi na mawawala kay Vhong yun. Pero siyempre mararamdaman mo na may dinadala. Right now, he doesn't need yung mga magpapabigat. Ito lang yung pagkakataon sa buhay niya na kailangan niyang malaman na andiyan ka for him,” she said.

Toni recalled being emotional upon seeing photos of Vhong bruised and beaten.

"Naiyak ako doon sa mga litrato. Siyempre babae ako at lumambot yung puso ko nung nakita ko yung situation niya. Pero ayoko ng umiyak sa harap niya. I think what he really needs is encouragement, prayers, to know na andito yung mga kaibigan niya,” the actress said.

"Hindi kami ganoon ni Vhong, hindi ganoon yung friendship namin. Hindi kami dramatic. Of course, it was a bad situation, a bad scenario, but when I saw him, na-miss ko yung kaibigan ko. It was just unfortunate na ganoon yung situation na nadatnan ko."

Vhong and Toni worked together in the movie "D' Anothers" (2005) and TV series "Lastikman" (2007) and co-hosted "Wazzup Wazzup" (2004) on Studio 23 (now ABS-CBN + Sports). (Sunnex)

Source: Sun.Star - Latest Philippine Community News, Blogs, Multimedia