Actress Ara Mina filed libel and grave coercion charges against her sister, Cristine Reyes, on April 18, citing the latter's hurtful text messages and attempts to ruin Ara's reputation with their relatives as grounds for the case.

Cristine refused to talk about the issue in the past two weeks, but in an interview with entertainment show The Buzz, her spokesperson, Atty. Heather Annang, finally shared her side of the story, ABS-CBNNews.com reports.

According to the lawyer, Cristine has chosen not to talk about the issue publicly. "Sa kanya, pinili niyang hindi magsalita sa publiko kasi para sa kanya ayaw na niyang dagdagan pa ang publicity. Sa tingin niya ang pinakamainam na paraan para maayos ito ay diretso sa ate niya, pag-usap nila privately between the two of them. (Cristine chose not to talk about the issue in public because she doesn't want the issue to get any bigger than it already is. She believes the best way to fix this is to talk to her sister privately.)"

“Sa batas, sa family code, ang korte binibigyan ng space at time ang magkakapamilya na ayusin ang away nila before nila i-file ang case sa court (According to the law, the Family Code, family members are given time to fix their rift before filing a case in court)," she explained. "It’s a misunderstanding between siblings. Away magkapatid talaga siya. Gusto talaga niya na magkabati na sila ng ate niya. (It's just an argument between siblings. Cristine really wants to fix things with her sister.)"

Atty. Annang added that Cristine had already reached out to Ara through text. "Ang pagkakaalam ko hindi pa sumasagot si Ara sa text. Hinihintay niya ang ate niya. Si Cristine okay lang, ready naman siya na humarap sa ate niya pero mas maganda rin naman na handa rin ang ate niya na magkita silang dalawa para mas magkaayos. (From what I know, Ara has yet to reply to Cristine's text. Cristine is just waiting for her sister. She's okay with facing Ara, but it's better if her sister is also ready to meet her and fix things between them.)"


(Photos courtesy of PEP.ph)