Lawyer denies Nora Aunor arrested in LA

WASHINGTON – Nora Aunor is back at the top of her game, her Filipina lawyer Claire Espina said, dismissing as "false" reports that the so-called superstar of Philippine cinema was arrested in Los Angeles recently for violating the terms of her probation.

"I have not been contacted by Nora or her manager about any problems related to the violation of the conditions of her case nor have I heard of an arrest. Until I am informed by law enforcement, court personnel or by Nora herself, I am disinclined to believe these reports," Espina, a partner in the prestigious Los Angeles law firm Edelberg and Espina, told The STAR.

Later, Espina categorically rejected the reports as false.

A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Superior Court said that if Aunor had been rearrested, it should have shown in her case file. Yet she conceded that case files are not always up to date because of bureaucratic delays.

The spokeswoman said the only notation in Aunor’s file as of Friday was that she had to appear in court on Oct. 1, 2007 to show proof she had paid all her fines and taken all the classes she had been required to take as a condition for her release on probation.

The District Attorney’s office said it had no information about Aunor being rearrested.

The 53-year-old Aunor, popularly known to her fans as "Ate Guy," was arrested at the Los Angeles airport in March 2005 when security agents discovered in her handbag 7.7 grams of methamphetamine, known as shabu in the Philippines.

She entered a guilty plea in a Los Angeles Superior Court last year and agreed to allow probation officers to monitor her progress at a court-ordered drug rehabilitation program. In exchange, sentencing was delayed for 18 months.

In October this year, if there are no other arrests, her guilty plea will be withdrawn – as if never made – there will be no record of a conviction, and the case will be dismissed. Her arrest will also be stricken from record.

Aunor, whose real name is Nora Cabaltera Villamayor, has made more than 170 films and recorded a number of albums.

Espina said Aunor has maintained a very active concert and show schedule over the past year adding, "by all indications one can say she is back in her game." – Jose Katigbak, STAR Washington Bureau