“It’s Showtime” host and comedian Ferdinand “Vhong” Navarro was released from the Taguig City Jail Male Dormitory on Dec. 6 after posting P1 million bail set by a court.
Lawyer Mariglen Abraham-Garduque, Navarro’s collaborating counsel, said the 45-year-old star was out of the jail at about 6 p.m.
Navarro can now spend Christmas with his family after the Taguig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 69 under Presiding Judge Loralie Cruz Datahan granted his petition for bail in a decision dated Dec. 5 in relation to the rape case filed by model Deniece Cornejo.
The court set his bail at P1 million, which Navarro paid in cash.
Under the Rules of Criminal Procedure, when bail has been granted bail, “the accused shall appear before the proper court whenever required by the court of these Rules.”
“The undertaking shall be effective upon approval, and unless cancelled, shall remain in force at all stages of the case until promulgation of the judgment of the Regional Trial Court, irrespective of whether the case was originally filed in or appealed to it,” according to the rules.
In granting bail to Navarro, the court ruled that “viewed in light of all the foregoing, and taking the evidence presented in the bail hearings as a whole, this Court is not convinced at this point, that there exists a presumption great leading to the inference of the accused’s guilt.”
“It must be emphasized, however, that a grant of bail does not prevent the Court, as trier of facts, from making a final assessment of the evidence after full trial on the merits,” the court added.
During the five bail hearings for Navarro conducted by the court in October and November, Cornejo and Cedric Lee testified against him.
Navarro was released after spending 79 days in detention starting on Sept. 19 when he surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Quezon City after another court issued a bailable warrant of arrest for acts of lasciviousness, also filed by Cornejo.
In the afternoon of the same day, the Taguig RTC Branch 69 issued a non-bailable warrant of arrest for the rape case.
“Mr. Vhong Navarro is very happy and grateful that he has been granted bail. He is thankful to the court which granted his petition,” his lawyer Alma Mallonga told Manila Bulletin on Dec. 6.
She added, “His family, his friends, his legal team, and all those who supported and believed in him throughout his ordeal certainly share his happiness in this wonderful development.”
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‘Early Christmas gift’: Vhong Navarro bail petition granted
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Vhong Navarro thanks Taguig court for granting him bail in rape case filed by Cornejo