Jail ‘Vhong’ again, says Cornejo
Model Deniece Cornejo has filed a petition to the Taguig Regional Trial Court Branch 69 to reverse its ruling granting bail to embattled actor Ferdinand “Vhong” Navarro and to inhibit from hearing the rape case she filed against him.
Cornejo — through her legal counsel Atty. Howard Calleja — filed a motion for reconsideration with motion to inhibit on 19 December with the Taguig RTC Branch 69 under Judge Loralie Datahan.
In the motion for reconsideration, it stressed that the actor “failed to file the formal offer of evidence, as ordered by the Honorable Court, not just once but twice, or on 11 November and 18 November 2022 respectively.”
“The private complainant (Cornejo) never said that she was not raped in the formal complaints filed. The third complaint clarified that the first two complaints filed stated intertwining facts that happened on the 17 January and 22 January 2014,” the motion read.
“The private complainant never said that she was not raped. The private complainant was merely silent about it because she was scared and ashamed of the stigma of a rape victim, she was scared that her family will no Ionger be able to depend on her, she was also terrified at the thought of going against a giant such as Vhong Navarro,” it added.
“Furthermore, she only had the attempted rape that happened on 22 January blottered because she wanted to consult with her family and scared how they would take the news and how the effect will be to the public, knowing that she was raped by the accused.”
The motion also added that the Taguig court “erred in finding that the inconsistencies in the private complainant’s affidavits and testimony are too material to ignore” and “erred in finding that the evidence presented failed to establish the material allegations in the information” including “that the private complainant was beaten up nor intoxicated to a point that will deprive her of her willpower.”
“Furthermore, the accused in this case has moral ascendancy over the victim, especially in the industry where both parties are involved, the accused being the more senior one in such line of work,” it added.