CA denies Vhong Navarro’s appeal to stop filing rape cases
The Court of Appeals (CA) chose to stand by its decision on ordering the Department of Justice (DOJ) to file rape and acts of lasciviousness charges against Vhong Navarro.
This is over the incidents involving model Deniece Cornejo, who alleged that the TV host raped her in her Taguig condominium in 2014.
In a resolution enforced last Sept. 20, the CA Special Fourteenth Division rejected Navarro’s motions for reconsideration to stop the Taguig Office of City Prosecutor from filing the charges due to lack of substantive evidence presented.
The DOJ had scrapped Cornejo's cases twice until the CA reversed the decisions and had the City Prosecutor of Taguig City revive the case.
The DOJ, through the office of the Taguig City prosecutor, then filed two cases against the actor.
One is before the city’s metropolitan trial court (MeTC) on acts of lasciviousness while another is before the regional trial court (RTC) on rape.
Judge Angela Din of the MeTC of Taguig Branch 116 ordered Navarro's arrest as she found probable cause to hold him for trial for acts of lasciviousness. He later posted P36,000 bail for the case.
However, a warrant of arrest for Navarro was then issued by Taguig City RTC Judge Loralie Cruz Datahan for rape, which is a non-bailable offense.
He is now currently held in custody at the National Bureau of Investigation detention facility in Manila.