“I don’t need to explain myself to anyone.”

These were the words of Sheryl Cruz on Wednesday, July 15, as she aired her disappointment over the backlash she received after a former friend reported her for unpaid debt on radio show “Raffy Tulfo in Action.”

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#POTDTuesday

A post shared by Sheryl Sonora Cruz (@officialsherylcruz) on Jun 16, 2020 at 12:35am PDT

“I do not delight in scandals, nor do I rejoice in others misery,” she said in an Instagram post.

“My heart breaks because people are too quick to judge things they don’t even know about,” she added.

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I do not delight in scandals, nor do I rejoice in others misery. My heart breaks because people are too quick to judge things they don’t even know about. I don’t have to dignify anything as I don’t need to explain myself to anyone.

A post shared by Sheryl Sonora Cruz (@officialsherylcruz) on Jul 14, 2020 at 10:28am PDT

In July 14 episode of the show, the friend, who was identified on the show as “Alex”, sought the help of host Raffy Tulfo to retrieve the money she allegedly lent Sheryl during the actress’ bid for office in the 2019 elections, which, she said, went to two dance projects and amounted to a total of P100,000.

“Bale nung una funded kami ng isang anonymous na tao. In the middle of the campaign, nung malapit na yung pinaka election, nag-stop mag-fund yung nagbibigay and then meron pang remaining projects na hindi pa naituloy and since ayaw naman namin na magalit yung mga tao sa kanya, since malapit na yung election nun so pinush through namin yung project and then ako yung nagbayad sa mga projects and then at the same time merong ilang days na ako yung nagpapa suweldo dun sa mga tao na nag-wo-work under sa kanya,” “Alex” explained.

According to “Alex”, she and Sheryl had a “verbal” agreement in which the latter told her she would pay her back in small increments every month. This, however, never materialized.

“Pinanghawakan ko yun and then wala namang nangyari. After that every two months I tried to contact her and then nag-me-message ako sa iba ibang social media platforms niya kasi we’re friends on Facebook, sa Instagram. I have her Viber and then the local number pero hindi na niya pinapansin. Hindi niya sini-seen, hindi niya chini-check or she doesn’t even bother to assure na magbabayad siya,” said “Alex”.

“After a year, ngayon ko lang naisip na parang it’s not worth it. A month or two after the elections she was still sweet to me. During elections kasi naging friends na kami, naging close kami. So very sweet siya sa akin. And then after nun narinig ko na lang sa iba na galing naman daw sa masama yung money so okay lang naman kahit hindi niya bayaran. Nung wala siyang work, hindi ko siya kinukulit. I just reminded her once. Iniisip ko na baka wala pa siyang work or wala pa siyang pambayad,” she added.

“Alex” explained that she just wants the actress to own up to her debt and stop avoiding her.

“Hindi ko alam kung paano niya nasabi na hindi hiram kasi in the first place, wala naman akong agenda or any political value or whatsoever to give her money or to donate money to her campaign. It’s just that kinonsider ko yung pagiging magkaibigan namin before or yung pagiging close namin before. Ayoko lang siyang mapahiya nung time na yun because kung hindi naman ako nag-ke-care sa kanya, bakit naman ako mag-ba-bother na magbigay ng money right? So nagulat lang ako sa sinabi niya,” she said.

When Raffy’s team contacted Sheryl, the 46-year-old star did confirm that she knew “Alex” but denied that she owed her any money.

She also refused to comment, saying that she has already been in touch with her lawyer regarding the issue.

Watch the full interview here: