The Court of Appeals has junked the petition of businessman Cedric Lee to dismiss the serious illegal detention case filed by comedian Ferdinand "Vhong" Navarro against him and several other respondents.
In a 12-page decision penned by Associate Justice Angelene Mary W. Quimpo-Sale, the CA's 17th Division affirmed a 2019 order issued by the Regional Trial Court of Taguig City denying Lee's motion to dismiss the case.
The trial court denied Lee's demurrer to evidence in its order issued on 27 May 2019, saying it cannot entertain what was essentially a second demurrer.
Impleaded in the case with Lee were model Deniece Cornejo, Bernice Cua Lee, Simeon Palma Raz Jr., Jose Paolo Gregorio A. Calma, Sajed Fernandez Abuhijleh and Ferdinand Guerrero.
They were charged with serious illegal detention over a 22 January 2014 incident whereby they were accused of beating up the comedian in the condominium unit of Cornejo at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.
Navarro is presently in detention facing charges of rape and acts of lasciviousness filed by Cornejo over the same incident. She claimed Navarro raped her on that day.
The comedian said that Lee's group illegally detained him, beat him up and threatened him with the use of firearms. They sought P200,000 for his release, according to Navarro, with the amount later increased to P2 million.
Navarro said he agreed to pay P1 million to secure his release.
On 21 July 2022, the CA's Special 14th Division directed the Department of Justice to revive the rape case and acts of lasciviousness charges against Navarro.
The CA reversed and set aside the 2018 and 2020 resolutions of the DoJ dismissing the complaint filed by Cornejo in 2014.
Prosecutors filed the criminal charges against Navarro before the trial courts in Taguig as an offshoot of the CA's ruling.
On 19 September 2022, Taguig Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 116 Presiding Judge Angela Francesa Din issued a resolution finding probable cause to put Navarro on trial for acts of lasciviousness and ordered Navarro to post a bail of P36,000 for his temporary release.
On the same day, Taguig RTC Branch 69 Presiding Judge Loralie Cruz Dataha issued an arrest warrant against Navarro for the rape case, a non-bailable offense.
In junking Lee's motion to dismiss, the CA said he failed to substantiate his claim that the trial court committed grave abuse of direction in denying his motion.