“It’s Showtime” host and comedian Ferdinand “Vhong” Navarro” welcomed the decision of a Taguig court denying the appeal of model Deniece Cornejo to cancel his bail and put him back in jail related to the rape case she filed against him.
On Dec. 5 last year, the Taguig Regional Trial Court Branch 69 under Presiding Judge Loralie Cruz Datahan granted Navarro’s petition for bail. He was released from the Taguig City Jail Male Dormitory on Dec. 6 after posting a P1 million bail set by the court.
Cornejo, through her lawyers, appealed the decision and filed a motion for reconsideration with a motion to inhibit on Dec. 19, asking the judge to recuse from the rape case.
In a new decision dated Jan. 12, the Taguig RTC Branch 69 dismissed Cornejo’s motion for reconsideration with motion to inhibit after it was found out that the appeal was filed without the approval of the Taguig City Prosecutor’s Office.
“At the outset, a perusal of the instant motion readily reveals the absence of any conformity from the Office of the City Prosecutor of Taguig City (‘OCP-Taguig). Time and again, the Supreme Court has emphasized that criminal actions shall be prosecuted under the direction and control of the prosecutor,” the Taguig court ruled.
It emphasized “that the required conformity of the public prosecutor was not a mere superfluity and was necessary to pursue a criminal action. A private party does not have the legal personality to prosecute the criminal aspect of a case, as it is the People of the Philippines who are the real party in interest. The criminal case must be under the direction and control of the public prosecutor.”
“Thus, when the public prosecutor does not give his or her conformity to the pleading of a party, the party does not have the required legal personality to pursue the case. In this case, there is no conformity from the public prosecutor. Since the Motion to Reconsider pertains to the presentation of the prosecution's evidence, it involves the criminal aspect of the case and, thus, cannot be considered without the public prosecutor's conforme,” the court added.
It said, “Applying the foregoing rule and jurisprudence, the present motion deserves scant consideration from this court. Wherefore premises considered, the Motion for Reconsideration with Motion to Inhibit is hereby denied for lack of merit.”
Navarro welcomed the court’s decision through one of his lawyers, Mariglen Abraham-Garduque, collaborating counsel.
“Thanks God,” Navarro told Abraham-Garduque upon learning of the court decision. Navarro added that he will never stop thanking God, according to his lawyer.
Abraham-Garduque also welcomed the decision, saying, “We are very happy with the resolution of the court on the motion.”
“As I mentioned before when I asked about my comment on the motion, I said that the motion should not be acted upon because it has no notice of hearing which is required in a litigated motion like the motion for reconsideration and it has no conformity of the public prosecutor,” she said.
She explained that “the conformity of the public prosecutor is a basic procedural requirement in all the pleadings to be filed by the prosecution, since the lawyer of the plaintiff, which is the people of the Philippines is the public prosecutor. The private complainant which is the alleged victim is merely treated as a witness of the people of the Philippines.”
With the period of filing the motion for reconsideration already lapsed, Cornejo can no longer file another motion for reconsideration to question the grant of bail by the court to Navarro.
Navarro's rape trial will start on Feb. 16 at the Taguig RTC Branch 69.