Vhong charged with rape anew

MANILA, Philippines — The Taguig prosecutor’s office has filed a rape charge against actor Vhong Navarro for the alleged rape of model Deniece Cornejo in 2014, years after it was dismissed by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

In an information dated Aug. 31 filed before the Taguig regional trial court (RTC), Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Irish Kay del Valle accused Navarro of using “force, threat and intimidation” in raping Cornejo and purposefully intoxicating her on Jan. 17, 2014.

However, Executive Judge Antonio Olivete of the Taguig RTC issued an order deferring the raffle of the case pending the resolution of motions before the Court of Appeals (CA).

Navarro’s camp had filed a motion for reconsideration against the decision of the CA directing the Taguig prosecutor’s office to file the rape charges against the actor.

The CA reversed and set aside the resolutions by the DOJ dated April 30, 2018 and July 14, 2020 that dismissed the complaint filed by Cornejo.

Vindicated

Cornejo’s camp said the CA decision vindicated her as she was not only a victim of sexual assault but also of trial by publicity wherein she was portrayed as the culprit.

“We have always believed in the justice system, and we continue to stand staunchly behind Ms. Cornejo in her long, painful journey to seek the truth and expose the lies against her for all to see,” her lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said in a statement following the CA order.

The appellate court said it is up to the courts to determine during a proper trial who is telling the truth in the rape case.

‘Belated fabrication’

Navarro’s lawyer, Alma Mallonga, said in an interview on ANC that they were surprised by the CA resolution as the rape charge had been dismissed multiple times.

Mallonga had called Cornejo’s rape allegation a “belated fabrication” and that she changed her story after a complaint was filed against her for grave coercion and illegal detention.

“The question is, was the (DOJ) wrong in dismissing the rape allegation on Jan. 17? It wasn’t,” she said in an interview on ANC.

She insisted that the DOJ did not act arbitrarily when it dismissed the rape allegation as there were inconsistencies in Cornejo’s claims.

A Taguig court in 2018 found Cornejo, Cedric Lee and Jed Fernandez guilty of grave coercion after Navarro claimed that he was assaulted and detained in her condominium unit on Jan. 22, 2014 to get him to admit to the rape allegation.