The Court of Appeals (CA) has ordered the immediate release of former model Deniece Cornejo, businessman Cedric Lee, and two co-accused in the case over the 2014 detention of actor-host Vhong Navarro.
The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), however, said they cannot walk out just yet.
What the Court of Appeals Did
In a decision dated Sept. 25, the CA ordered the immediate release of Cornejo “unless there is another lawful reason to keep her detained,” the Inquirer reported.
The order was addressed to the BuCor director general in Muntinlupa and the superintendent of the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong.
It also covers co-accused Cedric Lee, Simeon Palma Raz Jr., and Ferdinand Guerrero.
According to Philstar, the CA’s Special Seventeenth Division downgraded the offense from serious illegal detention to grave coercion.
It reduced the penalty to a minimum of six months and a maximum of three years, six months, and 21 days.
That is a sharp drop from the original ruling.
In May 2024, Taguig RTC Branch 153 found Cornejo, Lee, Guerrero, and Raz guilty beyond reasonable doubt of serious illegal detention.
The trial court imposed reclusion perpetua, a prison term of 20 to 40 years, and ordered the accused to pay Navarro civil indemnity and damages, the Inquirer reported.
Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, Cornejo’s former counsel, shared the release order on X over the weekend.
“Justice has been done. The wheels of justice grind slowly, but it grinds exceedingly fine,” he wrote, according to the Inquirer.
BuCor: Paperwork First, and a Second Sentence
In a statement on Monday, Sept. 28, BuCor Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said the bureau must first obtain two documents, Philstar reported:
- an official entry of judgment from the Court of Appeals; and
- a certificate of no pending case from the Taguig City Regional Trial Court.
“No Entry of Judgement has been issued, therefore it is being requested before the Judicial Records Division of the said court,” BuCor said.
The bureau described the step as part of its standard records validation.
BuCor also said its records show that Lee and Cornejo are serving a separate sentence for another grave coercion conviction under Taguig RTC Branch 266, which was affirmed by the CA Ninth Division.
The separate case carries the same penalty.
Because the two sentences must be served successively, BuCor said their combined terms run from four years and 21 days minimum to seven years and 21 days maximum.
After factoring in time allowances under Republic Act No. 10592, BuCor computed these presumptive completion dates, according to Philstar:
- Cornejo, in custody since May 2, 2024: minimum on Dec. 23, 2026; maximum on Dec. 23, 2029
- Lee, in custody since May 3, 2024: minimum on Feb. 18, 2027; maximum on Feb. 18, 2030
As of the Inquirer’s report, the exact release date for Cornejo and the three others had not been made public.
Vhong Navarro’s Side of the Case
The case goes back to January 2014.
Navarro went to Cornejo’s condominium unit in Taguig, where he was beaten and restrained by Lee’s group, according to the Inquirer.
Navarro said he was attacked, restrained, threatened, and held by a group that included Lee, which allegedly demanded money in exchange for his release, Philstar reported.
Cornejo, for her part, accused Navarro of rape and acts of lasciviousness.
The Department of Justice dismissed those complaints for lack of probable cause. In 2022, the CA reversed the DOJ and ordered charges filed.
But in February 2023, the Supreme Court dismissed the complaints against Navarro, citing inconsistencies in Cornejo’s statements, the Inquirer reported.
As of this writing, the Inquirer and Philstar reports did not carry a statement from Navarro or his lawyers on the new CA decision.
The story will be updated once his camp’s response is reported.
What Happens Next
For now, the CA order stands, but the release depends on BuCor completing its records check.
That includes securing the entry of judgment, obtaining the Taguig RTC clearance, and computing the separate Branch 266 sentence.
