High court clears Vhong Navarro in rape case

The Supreme Court has dismissed the charges of rape and acts of lasciviousness against TV host Ferdinand “Vhong” Navarro for lack of probable cause.

In a 42-page decision, the court’s Third Division reversed the ruling issued last year by the Court of Appeals (CA), saying the appellate court “gravely erred” when it granted the appeal of model Deniece Cornejo

“Here the prosecutor had reasons to doubt the veracity of Cornejo’s accusations, as the glaring and manifest inconsistencies pointed out in her complaints are readily discernible by common sense without need of rigorous examination or an expertise of a trial court judge for such purpose,” the ruling, penned by Associate Justice Henri Jean

Paul Inting, read.

“To suggest that a prosecutor turn a blind eye to such glaring and manifest inconsistencies — under the premise that the evaluation thereof would already touch on the complainant’s credibility to be solely assessed in a full-blown trial — would be to compel the prosecutor to satisfy himself or herself to mere allegations in a complaint, and abdicate his or her bounden duty to screen cases for trial, thus passing the buck to the trial courts,” it added.

The high court noted inconsistencies in Cornejo’s allegations which “are not trivial, minor, or inconsequential.”

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It said that under the circumstances, it “simply had no basis for reversing the prosecutor’s finding of lack of probable cause.”

The court ruled that the appellate court “substituted its own judgment for that of the prosecutor’s finding.”

Concurring in the decision are Associate Justices Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, Samuel Gaerlan, Japar Dimaampao, and Maria Filomena Singh.

Court records showed that Cornejo filed three complaints.

In the first, she claimed that Navarro pinned her down and touched her private parts, but the rape was not consummated because her friends arrived at her condominium in Taguig City.

The alleged sexual abuse

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MARIA...

From page 9

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LIZA...

From page 10 ng kaniyang career. Hindi na pala bago ang mga ipinakikita niya ngayon dahil noon pa man ay ramdam na ng kaniyang mga katrabaho ang pagkaburyong.

Sabi ng mga ito ay parang sawang-sawa na siya sa ikot ng kaniyang mundo, pinanghihinawahan na niya ang rutina ng kaniyang buhay sa araw-araw, sinok na sinok na ang magaling na aktor sa palaging ganoon lang na sistema ng kaniyang buhay at career.

Sabi ng isang source, “Palagi siyang bumubuntong-hininga. E, di ba, sign iyon ng pagkabagot?

Sign iyon ng pagkainip at pagsasawa na sa mga ginagawa niya?

“Kunwari, nasa taping or shooting na siya, matagal muna siyang mauupo, mag-iisip, parang ninanamnam muna niya ang time. Tapos, parang tamad na tamad na siyang gagalaw, buntong-hininga siya agad.

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“Pero hindi niya naman iyon ginagawa, parang deadma lang siya, kaya affected noon ang work niya. Nabuburyong siya, buntong-hininga siya nang buntong-hininga,” kuwento ng aming mapagkakatiwalaang source.

Napakaaga naman kasing humarap sa mga camera ng sikat at magaling na aktor. Parang hindi niya na-enjoy ang pagiging normal na bagets niya. Trabahong-kalabaw agad ang inasikaso niya lalo na’t nalinya pa siya sa drama.

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Kaya hindi na bago para sa mga katrabaho niya ang mga ginagawa ngayon ng sikat at magaling na aktor. Ito na ang manipestasyon ng matagal na niyang gustong mangyari–ang maging malaya siya.

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VHONG...

From page 10 happened on Jan. 22, 2014.

Cornejo filed a second case against Navarro on Feb. 22, 2014, or more than a month after the alleged rape attempt.

Her third complaint was based on her two previous complaints.

State prosecutors dismissed Cornejo’s complaints for lacking serious credibility.

She appealed before the CA, which reversed the prosecutors’ ruling, saying “the preliminary investigation is not the proper venue to rule on the respondent’s guilt or innocence.”

By William B. Depasupil, The Manila Times