The father of model Deniece Cornejo firmly believes that his daughter is innocent of the crime of serious illegal detention for ransom and that comedian Ferdinand “Vhong” Navarro had an ulterior motive when he visited her in her condo unit in 2014.
Last May 2, the Taguig Regional Trial Court Branch 153 handed down its decision, finding Cornejo, Cedric Lee, Simeon Palma Raz Jr. and Ferdinand Guerrero guilty beyond reasonable doubt for serious illegal detention for ransom of Navarro.
Dennis and Deniece Cornejo (Facebook) 
Dennis Cornejo, the father of Deniece (Facebook) 
Deniece Cornejo (Facebook) 
Deniece Cornejo (right) and Simeon Raz Jr. at the Taguig Police on May 2 before their transfer to prison facilities (Taguig Police)
Vhong Navarro (Instagram)
The court sentenced the four to reclusion perpetua, which carries imprisonment of 20 years and one day to a maximum of 40 years.
Cornejo, 32, is serving her sentence at the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong.
In an interview with Manila Bulletin on May 30, Dennis Cornejo, Deniece’s dad, said he was heartbroken when her daughter was convicted of the crime but he believes that she is innocent.
“Parang nagsuklob ang langit at lupa because we are expecting 100 percent everything will be dismissed,” he said.
Dennis said he is 100 percent sure that Deniece is innocent of the crime.
“Yes, I very, very much 100 percent believe in that because my daughter has only committed something [mistake] to me but not to everyone. Meron talagang hangarin itong isa na madilim kaya nagkagulo-gulo lahat niyan (He really had this dark desire that was why everything was messed up),” he said.
About their expectation for the dismissal of the case, Dennis said he can say this because in 2014, Deniece and her co-accused, Lee and Raz were granted bail by the Taguig Regional Trial Court Branch 271 headed by Judge Paz Esperanza Cortes for the case of serious illegal detention without the charge of ransom.
“Nakitaan kasi na once na nag-bail out ka na supposedly unbailable [case], the case is getting weak (Once you are bailed out in a case that is supposedly unavailable, the case is getting weak),” he said.
“Aaminin ko hindi ako nakakatulog ng maayos pati ang nanay ko, lahat kami. Pero tinitiyak ko mas lalo kang hindi nakakatulog ngayon dahil alam niya ang ginawa niya (I admit I’m not sleeping well as well as my mother, everyone of us. But I assure you that you are the one who is not sleeping well because you know what you did),” he said about Navarro.
He added, “Alam niya sa puso at damdamin niya na meron din siyang pagkakamali. Oo, ang sinasabi niya san siya nagkamali? Dun lang sa asawa niya (He knows in his heart and feelings that he has mistakes. Yes, what did he say that he committed a mistake to? To his wife).”
“Ang sasabihin ko lang, nagkamali lang si Deniece sa akin dahil sinuway niya sa mga gusto ko pero hindi ka nagkamali sa kanya kung ano man ang nangyari sa kanya dahil iyon ang ginawa niya sa anak ko (What I can say is, Deniece only committed a mistake against me because she defied what I wanted but you did not commit a mistake against her, whatever happened to her because that was he did to my daughter),” said Dennis.
He cannot accept that Deniece will spend up to 40 years for the crime.
“Pinitik-pitik lang ang mga mata niya. Sabihin nating dalawang oras lang siya binugbog doon e 40 years? (His eyes were just flicked. Let’s just say that he was beaten up for just two hours but 40 years?) That’s very harsh,” he said.
In 2014, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a case of serious illegal detention against Lee, Cornejo, Raz, Guerrero, Bernice Cua Lee, Jose Paolo Gregorio Calma and Sajed Fernandez Abuhijleh.
The case charged that the seven accused detained Navarro inside Cornejo’s condominium unit in Taguig on Jan. 22, 2014 where he was beaten up.
“Oo nabugbog siya. Sino may gusto noon? Walang may gusto noon pero iyon ang nangyari e. Sabihin natin na yung ang itinadhana. Nananahimik ang anak ko. Siya [Vhong] ang nagpumilit na pumunta doon (Yes he was beaten up. But who wanted that to happen? No one wanted it to happen but that happened. Let’s say it was destined. My daughter was quiet. He was the one who insisted on going there [to the condo unit]),” he said.
Rape
In 2022, the Court of Appeals revived the rape case filed by Deniece against Navarro.
Navarro was accused of raping Cornejo on Jan. 17, 2014 inside her condominium unit in Taguig.
However, in March last year, the Supreme Court dismissed the cases of rape and acts of lasciviousness filed by Cornejo against Navarro.
In a decision promulgated on Feb. 8, the Supreme Court granted Navarro’s petition for review on certiorari, questioning the decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) in July and September 2022 that led to the filing of the rape and acts of lasciviousness cases against him before the Taguig courts. In granting the petition, the Supreme Court reversed the rulings of the Court of Appeals.
Despite the ruling, Cornejo’s dad believes that Navarro raped her daughter.
“Of course, I do believe in that because dahil anak ko ang nagsabi mismo sa akin niyan (Of course, I do believe in that because my daughter was the one who told me about it herself),” he said.
Appeal
Dennis said an appeal will be filed to reverse the ruling of the Taguig court against Deniece in the serious illegal detention for ransom case.
“So it’s very premature for them, sa kabilang side, to celebrate. Kasi may Supreme Court pa. Sa akin naman, hindi nawawala yung aking faith (Because there is still the Supreme Court. For me, I’m not losing my faith),” he said.
Messages for Vhong and Deniece
In his message for Navarro, Dennis said, “Kung hindi niya inumpisahan yung bagay na meron pala siyang motibo, hindi sana lahat mangyayari ito. Hindi niya pwedeng sabihing napakalinis niyang tao (If he did not start the thing that he had a motive, all these would not have happened. He cannot say that he is very clean as a person).”
For her daughter Deniece who is currently at CIW, he said, “Always stay strong. Always keep safe kasi nasa ibang atmosphere siya, ibang environment. And I know her well na hindi siya masamang tao o gagawa ng kung ano-ano. Nagkataon lang talaga na natapat kami sa ganito. She still up to keep her faith (Always keep safe because she is in a different atmosphere, different environment. And I know here very well that she is not a bad person or will do something. It just so happened that we came across this).”
Deniece will be turning 33 on June 1 and will be spending her birthday in prison.
Dennis, who is working in Los Angeles, said he will go home to the Philippines by the end of the year to visit Deniece at CIW.
“May tinatapos lang ako [I’m just finishing something here],” he said.