Businessman Cedric Lee and model Deniece Cornejo are facing imprisonment of up to 40 years each after the court found them guilty of illegally detaining TV host and actor Ferdinand “Vhong” Navarro in 2014.

In a 94-page decision, Branch 153 of the Taguig Regional Trial Court found Lee, Cornejo, Ferdinand Guerrero and Simeon Raz guilty beyond reasonable doubt of illegal detention for ransom under Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code and sentenced them to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua — or up to 40 years imprisonment.

They were also ordered to pay Navarro a total of P300,000 in damages. The court also cancelled the bail bond of the accused.

Cornejo and Raz attended the promulgation of the verdict on Thursday and were immediately taken into custody while Lee and Guerrero were not present, prompting the court to order their immediate arrest.

“It is all too apparent that the accused planned and premeditated to restrain Vhong Navarro to extort money from him,” the court said, adding that their conduct showed “a common understanding between them” to commit the crime.

“Proof of their agreement was inferred from their conduct before, during, and after the commission of the crime,” the court said.

“The acts of Deniece Cornejo, Cedric Lee, Zimmer Raz and Ferdinand Guerrero, when taken together, revealed that they acted in concert with one another and that their acts emanated from the same purpose or common design showing unity in its execution,” it added.

Fierce legal battle

The fierce legal battle took 10 years to resolve.

On 22 January 2014, Cornejo filed a complaint with the Southern Police District (SPD) in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig against Navarro for the “alleged crime of attempted rape.”

Cornejo, who was unidentified at the time, said she was alone in her condominium when Navarro arrived at around 10:30 p.m. Once inside, Navarro allegedly tried to rape her.

Cornejo’s friends, including Lee, then arrived and performed a citizen’s arrest on Navarro, bringing him to the SPD.

But Navarro had a totally different version.

Through his talent manager, Chito Roño, Navarro said he was a victim of extortion after Lee and his group beat him up, detained him and demanded P2 million from him.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) in 2014 filed a case of serious illegal detention against Lee, Cornejo, Raz, Guerrero, Bernice Lee, Jose Paolo Gregorio Calma and Sajed Fernandez Abuhijleh for allegedly holding Navarro captive and inflicting serious physical injuries on him.

Of the alleged rape, the DoJ resolution said Cornejo’s narrative “demonstrates physical improbability.”

But the Court of Appeals’ (CA) 14th Division reversed and set aside the DoJ’s resolutions from 2018 and 2020 that affirmed the dismissal of Cornejo’s 2014 complaint.

“Cornejo decries attempted rape on the night of 22 January 2014 while Navarro denies any wrongdoing. We reiterate once more that a preliminary investigation is not the proper venue for determining the respondent’s guilt or innocence,” the CA said.

Take it to court

“Cornejo’s claim that she initially managed to escape Navarro’s unwanted advances but he caught up with her to further his perverse objective satisfies the element of force and intimidation,” the CA said, stressing that cases where the credibility of the accuser and the accused are weighed should be heard in a proper court trial.

The CA directed the Taguig city prosecutor to file rape by sexual intercourse and acts of lasciviousness charges against Navarro.

Navarro surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation on 20 September 2022 and was transferred to the Taguig City jail on 21 November 2022 upon the orders of Taguig Regional Trial Court Branch 69.

On 5 December 2022, the Taguig court granted Navarro’s petition for bail, setting it at P1 million. He returned to his hosting gig on ABS-CBN’s It’s Showtime the following month.

Supreme Court weighs in

Last year, the Supreme Court Third Division formally dismissed the rape and acts of lasciviousness charges against Navarro.

The High Court said the CA gravely erred in ordering the DoJ to revive the rape case despite Cornejo’s inconsistencies.

“Indeed, no amount of skillful or artful deportment, manner of speaking, or portrayal in a subsequent court proceeding could supplant Cornejo’s manifestly inconsistent and highly deficient, doubtful, and unclear accounts of her supposed harrowing experience in the hands of Navarro,” the SC said.

Navarro then scored another legal victory after a Taguig court ruled there was connivance among Lee, Cornejo, Guerrero and Raz in illegally detaining him.

‘Thank you, Lord’

“First, I want to take this opportunity to say thank you,” said Navarro, who did not attend the promulgation but was represented by his counsel, lawyer Alma Mallorca, in a statement.

“Of course, thank you very much Lord because you have always guided me. I have been through so much in life, you have been there. You have been my center, you are so true and for that thank you very much.”

He also expressed gratitude to the people who never left him during the biggest challenge of his life.

“To the staff of It’s Showtime, It’s Showtime family, thank you for your patience,” he said.

“Sometimes, when I tell jokes, papuntang norte, papuntang south (it goes north, it goes south). I don’t know, but you’re there to support me. Of course, to my family, Yce, Bruno and my two mothers, my sister, my niece, thank you for being strong with me. Thank you for your love.”