Deniece, Bernice plead not guilty of grave coercion

Deniece Cornejo, one of the accused in Vhong Navarro’s mauling.

MANILA, Philippines —Deniece Cornejo and Bernice Lee said that they are not guilty with the grave coercion charges filed against them by TV host-actor Vhong Navarro.

This, they pleaded on Thursday, May 8 at the Regional Trial Court Brach 74 in Taguig City.

The other accused — Ferdinand Guerrero, JC Calma, Jed Fernandez, Cedric Lee and Simeon “Zimmer” Raz have failed to appear before the court for their arraignment, Navarro’s lawyer, Alma Mallonga said.

Mallonga added that they would ask the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to explain why  Cedric Lee and Simeon Raz, who were recently arrested in Samar, failed to attend the arraignment.

Cornejo, Guerrero, Fernandez along with Lee and Raz are also facing serious illegal detention charges.

In an interview, Mallonga said that they are still waiting for the court’s explanation why Bernice and Calma were not included in the non-bailable case.

With report from Interaksyon