Vhong’s lawyer seeks arrest warrants after court hearing

MANILA, Philippines - The lawyer of actor Vhong Navarro is hopeful that Taguig City Regional Trial Court Branch 271 Judge Paz Esperanza Cortes will order the issuance of arrest warrants against Deniece Cornejo, Cedric Lee and five others after the court hearing on Tuesday.

The court is scheduled to hear a motion filed by lawyer Howard Calleja on behalf of Cornejo and Lee.

“We hope the judge acts as soon as possible, exercising her best judgment on the matter,” Navarro’s lawyer, Alma Mallonga, said yesterday.

On Friday morning, Calleja filed the motion for the judicial determination of probable cause in the serious illegal detention case involving Lee and Cornejo.

Also facing the same non-bailable offense are Bernice Lee, Zimmer Raz, Jose Paulo Gregorio Calma, Ferdinand Guerrero and Jed Fernandez.

The illegal detention case is in relation to the attack on Navarro last January at the Forbeswood Heights Condominium at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

Calleja filed the motion a day after the Department of Justice (DOJ) dismissed the rape complaint filed by Cornejo against Navarro.

Cornejo, Lee and the other five accused in the case are also facing grave coercion charges filed by Navarro before the Taguig Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 74.

Calleja said his motion includes the suspension of all proceedings, including the issuance of a warrant of arrest against his two clients.

According to Calleja, Cortes has 10 days to review the information given by the DOJ in relation to their case.

Mallonga earlier said Calleja’s motion is not a legal obstacle for the court to issue arrest warrants against Cornejo, Lee and the other accused in the case.

Meanwhile, Dennis Opina, Bureau of Immigration (BI) supervisor at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1, said they cannot allow Lee to leave the country if a warrant of arrest has been issued.

He said should Lee try to leave the country following the issuance of an arrest warrant, the BI will “prevent him from doing so” and immediately notify the DOJ, the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Opina confirmed that on Friday, a certain Cedric Lee booked a flight to Dubai set yesterday but canceled the booking a few hours later.

In February, the BI posted photos of Lee, Cornejo, Lee’s sister, Guerrero and Raz at all airports in the country after the DOJ issued a lookout bulletin order. Under the directive, the BI cannot prevent the five from leaving the country but must report the incident to the DOJ and the NBI.         – With Rudy Santos