NBI set to transfer Vhong Navarro to Taguig jail

COMEDIAN-TV host Ferdinand “Vhong” Navarro is set to be transferred to the Taguig City Jail in Camp Bagong Diwa, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said on Wednesday.

Navarro’s transfer from the custody of the NBI to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) is being undertaken upon the order issued by the Taguig City Regional Trial Court Branch 69 Judge Loralie Datahan.

The NBI said Navarro will have to first undergo the mandatory medical examination, including RT-PCR test, in compliance with the health protocol requirements prior to his transfer to BJMP.

Navarro is currently detained at the NBI detention center in connection with the rape complaint filed against him by model Deniece Cornejo.

The rape case is not bailable under Article 266-A of the Revised Penal Code as amended by Republic Act 8353.

The Taguig City Prosecutor’s Office also filed charges of acts of lasciviousness against Navarro in August based on the complaints of Cornejo.

The camp of Cornejo filed the motion asking the Taguig court to immediately transfer Navarro to the Taguig City Jail, saying he “should not be treated any differently.”

However, in his request, which was filed with the court on September 20, Navarro cited several reasons for his continued stay at the NBI detention center.

He told the court that his voluntary surrender to the NBI on September 19 for the first warrant of arrest for acts of lasciviousness and his decision to stay at the agency after the non-bailable warrant of arrest was issued “was prompted by legitimate fears for his safety and for his life as intense animosity exists between him and the private complainant and her friends.”

There were also claims that Navarro’s wife, Tanya Winona Bautista, received a text from an unknown person with the message threatening the life of the actor.

“Accused insists that the abovequoted message should be treated not as a mere taunt, but as a real and actual threat which endangers his life and security. In addition, private complainant Deniece Millinette Cornejo, as well as Cedric Cua Lee, Zimmer Raz and Ferdinand Guerrero, were all previously detained in Taguig City Jail before bail was granted for the crime of Serious Illegal Detention. Thus, it is likely that they have formed connections and allegiances with gangs inside the Taguig City Jail,” according to the court decision.

The court stated that “while accused would want this Court to believe his legitimate fears for his life and security, he, however, fell short of substantiating the same.”

“The SMS message allegedly received by the accused’s wife could not be given credence. First, the motion did not attach proof of the SMS message; and second, the said message, on its own could be interpreted in so many different ways, not necessarily as a threat to the life and security of the accused. Moreover, the rest of the allegations in the instant motion are utterly wanting in factual basis,” the court said in denying Navarro’s request.