The latest news in the Vhong Navarro case is that following the dismissal of the rape complaint from Deniece Cornejo, a Tagiug court has issued arrest warrants for Cornejo, Cedric Lee, and five others believed to be involved in the beating and blackmail of Navarro.
The sudden turn was confirmed by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Monday. She said that Judge Bernard Bernal of Taguig City issued the warrants.
Cornejo, Lee, and the others have been charged with a number of crimes for their alleged scheme against Navarro that played out on January 22.
The ABS-CBN host and actor entered Cornejo’s apartment building only to be accosted minutes later by Lee and others in the group.
He says he was tied up and beaten before the group tried to get him to pay them money, or else they said they would release a tape they recorded of Navarro confessing of raping Cornejo.
But evidence that came out later, including CCTV footage, backed Navarro’s story, quickly turning the accusers into the accused.
Now Cornejo’s complaint against Navarro is dismissed and the group could do serious time in jail.
They’re facing charges including grave coercion, attempted blackmail, and serious illegal detention. The latter is a non-bailable crime.
One of the suspects, Ferdinand Guerrero, attempted to leave the country for Hong Kong but was stopped, reported GMA News.
He was able to leave the airport to go back into the Philippines and not arrested for now.
