Lawyer Katrina Legarda on Tuesday asked a Quezon City court to fine ABS-CBN for violating a gag order on the annulment case of its talent Willie Revillame and former beauty queen Liz Almoro. Legarda said Revillame's homestudio should be fined P500,000 for airing reports about the case on its news programs "Bandila" and "TV Patrol" and the Sunday talk show "The Buzz," which allegedly violated a court prescribed gag order that also covers the media.

Almoro stood emotionless as Legarda spoke to reporters.

Legarda declined to discuss the details of the case but volunteered information that her client is undergoing counselling for her marital trauma.

Last Wednesday, Almoro, whose real name is Floralice Almoro-Revillame, filed the petition to void two occasions she and Revillame were married: on March 9, 2005 officiated by Lipa City Mayor Vilma Santos and on June 7, 2005 at the Sanctuario de San Antonio in Makati City.

Legarda said Republic Act No. 9262, otherwise known as the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004, is a big factor in the trial of the annulment case.

The lawyer was instrumental in the passage of the landmark law, which protects women and their children against any form of physical, psychological and economic abuse from their partners.

RA 9262 was not in force at the time Legarda handled the annulment cases of actresses Pops Fernandez and Carmina Villaroel and other high profile clients.

A women’s rights campaigner, Legarda gained prominence in 1996 when she put then-Zamboanga congressman Romeo Jalosjos behind bars for raping an 11-year-old girl.