Cedric, Deniece, Raz allowed to post P500K bail

MANILA, Philippines — The Taguig Regional Trial Court allowed detained businessman Cedric Lee, commercial model Deniece Cornejo and martial artist Zimmer Raz to post a hefty bail of P500,000 for charges of serious illegal detention.

The court's Branch 271 granted the petition of the respondents to be allowed to post bail for the offense linked to the January 21 mauling of television host Vhong Navarro.

In the ruling released on Monday, Presiding Judge Paz Esperanza Cortes said that the respondents are expected to afford the bail amount set as they have the capacity to hire high-profile lawyers.

The prosecution, moreover, failed to provide convincing evidence that in the act of detaining Navarro was "serious" or akin to kidnapping, Cortes said.

Sal Panelo, Cornejo's lawyer, confirmed reports in an interview with dzMM and said that the camp expected that the bail would be granted.

"From the very start, natatandaan niyo, sinabi namin noon na we were so confident na mabibigyan ng bail ang akusado," Panelo said.

He also insisted that the Cornejo, Lee and Raz did not commit serious illegal detention in beating up Navarro in a Taguig condominium unit.

Howard Calleja, lawyer of Lee and Raz, also welcomed the development in the case.

"This is a big step in proving what we have been reiterating from the inception of this case which is the truth—that our clients are innocent of the charges against them," Calleja said in a statement.

Cornejo, Lee and Raz are currently detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.