Suspect claims he helped Vhong after beating

MANILA, Philippines - Another man allegedly involved in the attack on television host Vhong Navarro in January appeared before the Department of Justice (DOJ) yesterday, claiming he helped Navarro following the attack.

Jed Fernandez denied taking part in beating up Navarro, saying his friends – led by businessman Cedric Lee – were already beating the actor when he arrived at model Deniece Cornejo’s unit in Forbeswood Heights Condominium Tower 2 in Taguig City.

Fernandez claimed he even washed Navarro’s bloodied face and asked his friends to remove the duct tape from his mouth. He also recalled giving Navarro a glass of water at the police station where they brought him after the incident.

“Vhong asked me not to leave his side at the precinct. I accompanied him back to his car in Taguig and we exchanged phone numbers… It contravenes human experience that a suspect will volunteer personal cell phone number to victim immediately after committing crime,” Fernandez said in his counter-affidavit denying the charges of serious illegal detention, serious physical injury, grave threats, grave coercion, illegal arrest and blackmail filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

It was the fifth hearing conducted by the investigating panel on the charges filed by Navarro, who appeared before the DOJ last Feb. 6 to affirm his allegations against the respondents.

In the second hearing held last Feb. 14, none of the respondents appeared before the panel.

Lee, Cornejo and mixed martial artist Zimmer Rance only appeared in the third hearing last Feb. 21. They all denied the same charges.

The fourth hearing was held last Feb. 28 when another respondent, businessman Jaypee Calma, submitted his answer.

In her counter-affidavit, Cornejo claimed that she was raped twice by Navarro. Lee and his group, on the other hand, said they only came to her rescue.

NBI probers earlier found consistency in Navarro’s statement and the surveillance footage submitted by security office of the condominium.

A video showed Navarro – in a bull cap – leaving the building with his hands tied behind his back, along with eight people including Lee and Cornejo at around 11 p.m. last Jan. 22.

Navarro claimed that the respondents beat him and tried to extort up to P2 million from him while he was in Cornejo’s unit.