“It’s all about money.”

This is how young actor Richard Guiterrez sees the lawsuit filed against him by Lorayne Pardo, widow of his erstwhile personal assistant, Nomar.

Nomar Pardo died a few months ago when the car he was in that Guiterrez was driving figured in an accident.

“They are asking for four million pesos. That’s too much,” the GMA star told reporters recently.

Pardo, who filed charges of Reckless Imprudence Resulting in Homicide against Guiterrez, denied this.

“I wasn’t asking for anything. I heard about the four million from Anabelle [Rama, mom and manager of the Kapuso hunk] herself. I don’t know how or why they would think that. I never asked for anything like that,” she said.

According to Pardo, she decided to file the case only after the Guiterrez’s failed to live up to their “promises.”

“This is not about money. This is about justice. This is about my kids. They told me they will lend their support but we haven’t received anything—not a centavo.”

He wasn’t expecting the complaint, Guiterrez admits. All along, he said, he thought everything was being settled.

“The truth is, I am willing to help, in any way I can - and not because I think I am obligated to but because I want to. I want to help the family because even before Nomar died, that’s what he asked me to do. Nomar told me that his goal in life is to make sure the kids gets to study, to finish college.  So, that’s what I was offering. I told her [Lorayne] I wanted to get an educational plan for their kids."

Asked about this "promise" and why Pardo claimed they haven’t received nor heard from him, Guiterrez was adamant.

“That’s unfair. It’s not true. They didn’t accept my offer. They were asking for four million in cash.”

Guiterrez went as far as to reveal that he had been helping the Pardo family even prior to the accident. This, he said, he did even without the consent of his mom.

"I had to hide it from her because I knew she won’t approve of it but yes, I was paying for the schooling of Nomar’s eldest child. This was after he learned that I was helping with World Vision, an organization for helping kids find ways to study. He asked me if I could help his eldest, too, and I did. Lorayne knows this.”

Addressing Nomar's widow, the actor said: "Lorayne, you know I was helping for the schooling of your eldest child. Please don’t say that I don’t care - that I didn’t care for your family - because I do. I did. I cared. Even before Nomar died.”