A TAGUIG City court yesterday denied the plea of model Deniece Cornejo seeking reconsideration of its order granting the petition for bail of TV host-comedian Ferdinand “Vhong” Navarro last December.
In junking Cornejo’s plea, Taguig RTC Branch 69 Presiding Judge Loralie Cruz- Datahan said there was no conformity of the public prosecutor in her plea.
“At the outset, a perusal of the instant motion readily reveals the absence of any conformity from the Office of the City Prosecutor of Taguig. Time and again, the Supreme Court has emphasized that criminal actions shall be prosecuted under the direction and control of the prosecutor,” Cruz-Datahan said.
The court said conformity by the public prosecutor is necessary under Rule 110, Section 5 of the Rules of Court.
The court said that Cornejo admitted there was no such conformity and that she only claimed that the public prosecutor did not object to her filing the motion for reconsideration.
But the court said it is not sufficient since the motion for reconsideration pertains to the presentation of prosecution’s evidence and involves the criminal aspect of the case.
“Thus, it cannot be considered without the public prosecutor’s conformity,” the court added.
The court allowed Navarro to post a P1 million bail for his temporary liberty last month.
Cornejo has sued Navarro for rape. Rape is a non-bailable offense but the court may grant bail if the prosecution’s evidence is weak.
In granting Navarro’s petition for bail, the court said it is not convinced there exists presumption leading to inference of guilt on the part of the accused.
The court said Cornejo’s credibility is the single most important issue in the case, adding the inconsistencies in her affidavits were too material to ignore.
Cornejo’s inconsistent accounts of the alleged rape previously led the Department of Justice to junk her complaint twice.
But the Court of Appeals in July overturned the DOJ’s resolution and directed it to file the rape case against Navarro.
Aside from the rape case, Navarro is also facing acts of lasciviousness case before the Taguig metropolitan trial court also filed by Cornejo.
