Vhong Navarro’s wife on TV host’s temporary liberty: ‘It’s going to be a blessed Christmas’
Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of rape.
Vhong Navarro’s wife Tanya Bautista said it’s “going to be a blessed Christmas” after her husband got released on bail at P1 million on Tuesday, Dec. 6 for the revived rape charges filed by model Deniece Cornejo.
Bautista expressed her happiness over the news as she fetched Navarro from the Taguig City Jail Male Dormitory on the same day, where the latter was detained over the acts of lasciviousness warrant from the 2014 rape case.
“Sobrang happy. It’s going to be a blessed Christmas, a very good Christmas for the family,” she said in a quick chat with a separate publication.
“We deal with things one day at a time. Sumusunod lang tayo sa process. This time, ito na ‘yun. We were granted bail, and we are so thankful,” added Bautista.
In 2014, Cornejo filed a rape case against Navarro, which allegedly took place in her condominium unit on Jan. 22.
Cornejo, businessman Cedric Lee, and Jed Fernandez were found guilty of grave coercion four years later after Navarro argued that he was assaulted and detained on the same night to admit the accusations.
In June 2020, the Court of Appeals reversed the previous 2018 and 2020 resolutions dismissing Cornejo’s claims. The CA then directed it back to the City Prosecutor of Taguig City.
The actor surrendered to the NBI on Sept. 19 after being issued a warrant in connection with the rape charges. He stayed at the Manila NBI Detention Center before he got transferred to the Taguig City Jail on Nov. 21.
On Tuesday, Dec. 6, the Taguig court granted Navarro’s bail petition at P1 million for his temporary liberty.
"Viewed in light of all the foregoing, and taking the evidence presented in the bail hearings as a whole, this court is not convinced at this point, that there exists a presumption great leading to the inference of the accused's guilt," the court document read.
"It must be emphasized, however, that a grant of bail does not prevent the Court, as trier of facts, from making a final assessment of the evidence after full trial on the merits," it added.
