ShareThisDe Lima issues lookout order vs Cedric Lee, Deniese Cornejo, 3 others
By JO ERLINDA G. NEBRES
TAGUIG CITY (PhilAmPress) — Actor, singer and ABS-CBN program co-host Vhong Navarro was beaten black and blue allegedly by businessman Cedric Lee and his group over a woman inside a condominium at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City last Wednesday, January 22, and is recovering after an operation in a hospital.
Vhong, who is Ferdinand Hipolito Navarro in real life and co-host of the noon time program “It’s Showtime,” was tied up while he was being mauled inside the condo unit being rented by model Deniece Cornejo who had appeared in bit parts in some ABS-CBN shows.
Navarro, assisted by his lawyer, later filed several charges, including a non-bailable offense of illegal detention, against Lee, Cornejo and five others.
The actor signed the complaint in his hospital bed.
A day after, Cornejo countered and made good her case of rape against the actor-television host which she filed with her lawyers before the Taguig City Prosecutors Office.
“Gusto kong maging boses ng mga nabiktima ng rape [I want to be the voice of rape victims],” Cornejo said during the filing of her case against Navarro in Taguig City Hall.
Cornejo also belied Navarro’s claims that he did not attempt to her rape her on the night of January 22 inside her condo unit.
She said: ”Alam ng Diyos ang katotohanan [God knows the truth].”
Cornejo’s lawyers Ma. Concepcio Aquino and Howard Calleja said it took her client “some time to file the case because she went through pyschological trauma and a lot of stress before deciding to do this.”
Navarro denied raping Cornejo and his denial seemed to be sustained by several video footages of the condominium before and after the incident which was made available to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
The rape could not have taken place as Cornejo was caught leaving his condo unit minutes before Navarro arrived there.
Justice Secretary Leila M. De Lima, meanwhile, created a panel to conduct the investigation on the charges filed by Navarro against Lee, Cornejo and five others.
De Lima also issued a lookout bulletin order (LBO) against Cornejo, Lee and three others for all airports and seaports in the country in connection with the criminal case filed against them by Navarro.
Also subject of the Omnibus Immigration Lookout Bulletin were Bernice Lee, Ferdinand Guerrero and Zimmer Rance.
The request for the issuance of the LBO was made on Wednesday by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Virgilio L. Mendez for some of the respondents in the criminal case for serious illegal detention and serious physical injuries filed by Navarro before the DOJ.
De Lima also ordered Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Siegfried B. Mison to instruct all immigration officers to be on the lookout/alert for the said five respondents.
Likewise, De Lima ordered Prosecutor General Claro A. Arellano to expedite the resolution of the case.
De Lima stressed that if it should be found that there is probable cause to criminally charge the respondents in court, the case should be immediately be filed and obtain warrant for their arrest.
Navarro earlier filed charges of serious illegal detention, serious physical injuries, grave threats, grave coercion and blackmail against Lee, Cornejo and company.
In a memorandum, also dated Jan. 29, to BI Commissioner Siegfred Mison, De Lima ordered the bureau to “[p]romptly relay to the Office of the Secretary, this Department (DOJ), to the Office of the Prosecutor General [Claro Arellano] and to the National Bureau of Investigation any pertinent information, especially those tending to indicate that the subject individuals are attempting to leave the country, and in order to obtain updates as to the status of their case and other relevant information that may be the basis for the proper course of action to be taken by the immigration officer.”
The DOJ, through Prosecutor General Claro Arellano, also designated a three-member panel to conduct the preliminary investigation into Navarro’s complaint for serious illegal detention, serious physical injuries, grave threats, grave coercion, illegal arrest, and blackmail against Lee and company.
De Lima ordered the panel to “expedite the resolution of the case.”
“If it should be found that there is probable cause to criminally charge the respondents in court, to immediately file the case and obtain warrant for their arrest,” De Lima’s memorandum stated.
De Lima said there were reports that Lee and Cornejo had booked a flight to Singapore for February 6 via Philippine Air Lines flight PR 503 and that the reservation was done online last Monday. The two, however, denied the report.
The NBI had invited Lee and Cornejo to present their side during the investigation of the controversial case, but the two did not appear before the bureau despite their earlier promise. Their non-appearance was considered a waiver on their part to defend themselves during the fact-finding investigation.
The Lee siblings, Cornejo, a certain Ferdinand Guerrero, an alias Mike, Zimmer Rance, and two unidentified persons were charged by the NBI late Tuesday afternoon with grave coercion, illegal arrest, blackmail, serious illegal detention, serious physical injury, and grave threat.
But even if an LBO is issued by the DOJ, authorities would still not be able to prevent the respondents from leaving the country. Only a hold departure order or a watchlist order issued by a court can be used to prevent the accused in criminal cases from leaving.
The DOJ used to have power to issue HDOs until the agency was stripped of such authority through a temporary restraining order issued by the Supreme Court in 2011 in a case involving former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who was then a subject of a watch-list order in connection with electoral sabotage charges filed against her.
Navarro insisted in an exclusive interview on “Buzz ng Bayan” on ABS-CBN that he was not a rapist.
He claimed that Cedric Lee and several men took turns in beating him and tried to blackmail him.
Navarro claimed that he signed a police blotter, which contained Deniece’s complaint of attempted rape because Cedric’s camp threatened him. Navarro was brought by Lee and his group to the police still tied after the mauling incident at the condo.
“Kaya po pumasok yung blotter kasi may pangbablackmail na nangyari. Kaya ang nakalagay doon na hindi sila magrereklamo kasi may usapan po. Ginawa lang ang pang-blotter na iyon na just in case na magsumbong ako, meron silang pwedeng panghawakan laban sa akin,” Vhong said.
Deniece, on the other hand, insisted that she is the victim. Cedric also denied Vhong’s claims, saying that Vhong attempted to rape Deniece. He also denied extorting money from Vhong.
“Ang instinct ko, I grabbed him from the back at hinila ko pababa ng kama. Si Deniece ay tumakbo sa sister ko at inilabas na siya sa condo unit. Naiwan dun sa condo, ako at ‘yung lalaki na di ko pa kilala ay si Vhong,” Cedric told ABS-CBN News.
Speaking to reporters, Howard Calleja, another cousel of Cornejo, dismissed the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage presented by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to media earlier in the day.
The footage showed that before businessman Cedric Lee arrived at Cornejo’s condo unit supposedly to rescue her from Navarro, Cornejo already left the area.
“That CCTV footage can only show you part of the story. Eyewitnesses can tell the whole story. We are not even sure if the CCTV is clear or has been tampered. The true story is what is being related by the true victim of this case, who is Miss Deniece Cornejo,” said Calleja.
“What we are saying is that let us not muddle the issue. It (CCTV footage) is only part of it, not the whole story,” he added.
Calleja also belied Navarro’s statement that Lee was already inside the condo unit when the comedian-TV host arrived in the area.
“But the CCTV shows that Navarro arrived ahead of Lee. Makikita naman natin kung sino ang nagsasabi ng totoo at gumagawa ng script [We will see who’s telling the truth and who is just making a scripted statement],” said Calleja.