Vhong issued no-bail warrant for rape
A lawyer of the complainant provided Daily Tribune an image of the arrest warrant for rape
The Taguig City Regional Trial Court Branch 69 on Monday issued a warrant of arrest against television host Ferdinand “Vhong” Navarro for rape. Presiding Judge Loralei Cruz Datahan did not recommend bail for Navarro’s temporary liberty.
Navarro earlier surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation shortly after an arrest warrant was issued against him over a separate case for acts of lasciviousness also filed by model-stylist Deniece Cornejo.
A lawyer of the complainant provided Daily Tribune an image of the arrest warrant for rape.
The warrant for the acts of lasciviousness was dated 15 September and was issued by the Metropolitan Trial Court of Taguig City which set the bail at P36,000.
Navarro’s lawyer Alma Mallonga expressed confidence her client would be released as soon as possible. She, however, made the statement apparently before knowing the issuance of the rape warrant against Navarro.
“I don’t think there will be a problem because we have completed all the prerequisites,” she said. “We are going to comply with it within the day. We are confident that Mr. Navarro will be granted bail.”
The cases stemmed from the Court of Appeal’s reversal of two decisions by the Department of Justice in 2018 and 2020 that dismissed Cornejo’s rape and acts of lasciviousness complaints against Navarro due to her alleged conflicting statements.
Said CA order mandated the Taguig City Prosecutor’s Office to file the rape and acts of lasciviousness cases in court which it did. Cornejo in her affidavit accused Navarro of raping her on 17 and 22 January 2014.
Navarro’s lawyer, meanwhile, retraced the events of 22 January 2014, when he was “detained, mauled, threatened and tied up” by the group of Cedric Lee at the condo unit of the model.
Cornejo could be seen on closed-circuit TV camera footage inside the elevator a minute after Navarro went to her condo unit. She was seen smiling and seemingly suppressing giggles, the lawyer averred, adding that those were not the actions of a rape victim.
Navarro will seek reconsideration for the warrant of arrest even as Mallonga claimed her client was the victim of the crimes of serious illegal detention and grave coercion.
In a recent interview with ABS-CBN News, Navarro said he was alarmed that the rape case resurfaced.
“Ever since this started, I told the truth. I did not lie. I was consistent in our affidavits. I told everything there. I repeatedly said that my mistake was cheating on my then girlfriend.”
The charges filed by Navarro against Lee, Cornejo and their companions for serious illegal detention are also being heard in court while Lee and Cornejo have been convicted for grave coercion over the mauling incident.