Detained "It's Showtime" host and comedian Ferdinand “Vhong” Navarro finished his Covid-19 quarantine and is now confined with other persons deprived of liberty (PDL) at the Taguig City Jail Male Dormitory in Camp Bagong Diwa.
According to Jail Senior Insp. Hernand Macoy of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology-National Capital Region (BJMP-NCR), Navarro completed his seven-day Covid-19 quarantine on Nov. 28.
He is now detained in his cell with other PDLs. Macoy previously said the Taguig City Jail would determine if there was a security threat on Navarro inside the facility.
Navarro previously raised the issue of security threat against him if he was transferred to the Taguig City Jail in a motion he filed with the Taguig Regional Trial Court Branch 69 seeking his continued detention at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) detention center in Manila. The court denied his request.
Navarro was transferred to the Taguig City Jail from the NBI detention center in Manila on Nov. 21 based on a commitment order issued by the Taguig court.
The court is handling Navarro’s rape case filed by model Deniece Cornejo through the Taguig City Prosecutor’s Office.
Upon his arrival at the Taguig City Jail, Navarro underwent a medical exam to check on his health status.
After this, Navarro, who is fully vaccinated, was quarantined and isolated in compliance with Covid-19 health protocols being implemented in Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) jails.
Navarro has been in detention since Sept. 19 when the Taguig RTC Branch 69 issued a non-bailable warrant of arrest against him for the rape case. Navarro was accused of raping Cornejo in her condominium unit in Taguig on Jan. 17, 2014.
He is also facing a case of acts of lasciviousness which was also filed by Cornejo.
Cornejo’s rape complaints were dismissed by the Department of Justice and prosecutors in 2014. She elevated the case to the Court of Appeals (CA), which ruled in her favor in July.
The CA ordered the Taguig City Prosecutor’s Office to file the cases of rape and acts of lasciviousness against Navarro.
Navarro was arraigned for the rape case on Oct. 11 at the Taguig RTC Branch 69. He refused to enter a plea, prompting the court to enter a not guilty plea on his behalf based on rules.
He is now waiting for the court’s decision on his petition for bail and provisional liberty from detention while the hearing on the rape case is being conducted.
The Taguig court held five hearings on his bail petition that saw Cornejo and Cedric Lee testifying against him.
He has repeatedly denied raping Cornejo.