Model Deniece Cornejo will be testifying against TV host and comedian Ferdinand “Vhong” Navarro in his bail hearing stemming from the rape case she filed.
Manila Bulletin has learned that Cornejo and another person are the last two remaining witnesses of the prosecution who will be presented before the Taguig Regional Trial Court Branch 69, which is hearing Navarro’s rape case.
Cornejo accused Navarro of allegedly raping her in her condominium on Jan. 17, 2014, an accusation the TV host had repeatedly denied.
Navarro has filed a petition for bail with the court, which issued a non-bailable warrant of arrest against him for rape on Sept. 19, seeking for his provisional liberty from the custody of authorities.
However, Cornejo and Navarro will not see each other in person. He is attending the bail hearings via videoconferencing, an arrangement that was approved by the court.
He is currently detained at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Detention Center in Manila. Navarro voluntarily surrendered to the NBI in Quezon City on Sept. 19 when a warrant of arrest for the case of acts of lasciviousness, another case which Cornejo filed, was issued by the Taguig Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 116, which set his bail at P36,000.
However, the non-bailable warrant of arrest came out in the afternoon of the same date. He was transferred to NBI Manila the following day.
Howard Calleja, Cornejo’s lead counsel, previously said that the court gave them the opportunity to present up to five witnesses in the bail hearing.
Under The Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure, “At the hearing of an application for bail filed by a person who is in custody for the commission of an offense punishable by death, reclusion perpetua, or life imprisonment, the prosecution has the burden of showing that evidence of guilt is strong.”
Rape by sexual intercourse like in Navarro’s case is “punished by reclusion perpetua,” according to Republic Act 8353, or The Anti-Rape Law of 1997.
In Navarro’s bail hearing, the Cornejo camp needs to prove that the evidence of guilt is strong against him.
The third bail hearing was held at the Taguig RTC Branch 69 on Oct. 25 but the Cornejo camp’s third witness failed to show up.
There are two remaining bail hearings for Navarro set by the court–Nov. 7 and 10.
Cedric Lee, who was one of the key figures in the 2014 incident, was the Cornejo camp’s first witness in the first bail hearing on Oct. 13.
He was followed by Master Sgt. Rolly Laureto, who testified on Oct. 17.
On Jan. 22, 2014, Laureto was one of the police officers who were present at the Southern Police District headquarters when a badly beaten Navarro signed a police blotter allegedly admitting that he raped Cornejo in her condominium in Taguig.
Navarro was charged for rape and acts of lasciviousness after the Court of Appeals (CA) sided with Cornejo’s petition for review in a decision promulgated last July 21.
The CA ordered the Taguig City Prosecutor’s Office to file the two cases against Navarro, saying a court should decide who is telling the truth between Navarro and Cornejo.
The CA ordered the Taguig City Prosecutor’s Office “to file the Informations against Ferdinand ‘Vhong’ H. Navarro for: (1) Rape by Sexual Intercourse under Article 266-A (1) of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 8353; and (2) Acts of Lasciviousness under Article 336 of the Revised Penal Code.”
The information filed with the Taguig RTC Branch 69 stated that on Jan. 17, 2014, Navarro “through force, threat and intimidation, and by purposely intoxicating the victim, did willfully, unlawfully and feloniously have carnal knowledge with one Deniece Millinete Cornejo.”