CA junks Navarro’s appeal to charge alleged assailant

FILE: Ferdinand “Vhong” Navarro (Photo: National Bureau of Investigation/Facebook)

MANILA – The Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed a Taguig court decision which cleared a man whom beleaguered actor Ferdinand “Vhong” Navarro claimed was part of the group which beat him up and forced him to admit to raping an aspiring actress-model eight years ago.

In a 17-page decision dated Nov. 11 and released Friday, the CA upheld the Taguig Regional Trial Court Branch judgment on July 31, 2019, which partially reversed the decision of the Taguig Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) Branch 74 and dismissed the case against Sajed Fernandez for failure of the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt his guilt for grave coercion.

Navarro, under custody without bail for the alleged raped of Deniece Cornejo, also accused businessman Cedric Lee, Bernice Lee, Simeon Raz Jr. and Jose Paolo Calma of allegedly beating him up on Jan. 22, 2014.

The mauling incident allegedly happened at Cornejo’s condominium unit at Bonifacio Global City after she was reportedly raped by Navarro.

Navarro claimed he was forced by the group to admit having sexually abused Cornejo.

On Aug. 25, 2017 the MeTC dismissed the cases against Raz and Calma but on July 27, 2018, convicted Cornejo, Cedric Lee and Fernandez of grave coercion and sentenced them to up to three years in prison.

Bernice Lee was acquitted.

When taken to the RTC, the MeTC’s judgment finding Cornejo and Lee guilty was affirmed but Fernandez was cleared for reasonable doubt by the RTC, prompting Navarro to elevate the case to the CA.

In turning down the appeal, the CA said there was no mistrial as claimed by Navarro.

“Navarro failed to show that the public respondent, (RTC) Judge (Marivic C. Cudilla-Vitor), hampered the prosecution’s evidence in any way,” the CA explained.

“Navarro admitted to feel comfortable with Fernandez because the latter was the one talking to him” when he was supposedly brought to a police station by Lee’s group to face the rape charges, according to the CA.

“The spontaneous and logical conclusion that may be drawn from this could be that, if Fernandez, indeed, compelled Navarro through violence, threat or intimidated to sign the police blotter, why then would Navarro be in any way become comfortable with Fernandez?” the CA said.