Celebrity chef’s ‘attackers’ face charges in court

CEBU, Philippines — The Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor has recommended the filing of Information against five respondents in a complaint filed by celebrity chef Jason Atherton, who was attacked while visiting the city.

In particular, Cebu City Assistant City Prosecutor Misty Lean C. Escolar-Hupp, the investigating prosecutor, recommended the filing of Information against Butch Soreno for violating  Section 10(a) of Republic Act (RA) 7610 (Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act).

Soreno allegedly invited Atherton's 17-year-old child to engage in sex inside the comfort room of F Café and Bar at around 1 a.m. on December 24, 2022.

Aside from Soreno, the Prosecutor’s Office also found other respondents Inaki Ramon Bernedo Ibarlucea, Jericho Leonardi Porras Bolongan, Richard Doncillo Cervantes, and Douglas Cervantes in violation of Section 4, in relation to Section 15, of RA 11313 (Safe Spaces Act).

They were indicted for allegedly "looking on, glaring, laughing, and encouraging Soreno towards approaching the minor child and making unwanted sexual comments towards her, which...threatened the latter's personal space and physical safety".

The filing of a "physical injuries in a tumultuous affray" (Article 252 of the Revised Penal Code) charge was also recommended for all respondents "for their concerted act of physically mauling complainant Atherton and inflicting injuries on his person on the said date."

Escolar-Hupp, however, found no probable cause to charge Neil Pepito, the F Bar disk jockey, whom Atherton alleged to have uttered threatening words against him, as there was no evidence presented to support such allegation.

The case's March 9, 2023 joint resolution, which Deputy City Prosecutor Therese Calibugan-Casiño reviewed and City Prosecutor Liceria Lofranco-Rabillas, approved, was received by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)-7 on August 15, 2023.

According to the information filed, Atherton was with his wife and daughter in F Cafe on December 23, 2022.

Before leaving the place, the daughter went to the toilet on the bar's second floor. When she came back, she appeared distraught and upset and narrated how she was sexually harassed by a grown man while his friends watched and laughed.

This infuriated Atherton, especially that her daughter is in a fragile health condition (suffering from Type 1 Diabetes).

He asked her daughter to point out the man who harassed her. She pointed at Soreno, whom Atherton grabbed and pushed and told to apologize to his daughter.

However, seven of Soreno's companions reportedly ganged-up on Atherton and threw punches at him. As the melee continued, the security of F Café, instead of doing something to stop the attack, allegedly grabbed and held Atherton from behind, disabling him from defending himself.

While being restrained, a man in a hat and black shirt, who was later identified as Cervantes, picked up a bottle and smashed it on Atherton's face and head several times.

Cervantes allegedly would have continued assaulting Atherton if not for unidentified people who restrained him.

The conflict then went on at the parking lot, where Soreno’s companion allegedly kept on shouting at Atherton, uttering, "I will kill you, I will kill you motherfucker." The person was later identified as Pepito.

The rest of Soreno’s companions allegedly kept on bragging how influential and powerful they were, how they "rule" Cebu and how they could easily have Atherton jailed.

Atherton alleged that at the police station, he felt like he was the suspect and was overwhelmed by the sheer number of companions of Soreno, who kept on telling the police that they were well-known people.

Atherton, who suffered injuries, had himself treated by  a private physician and then examined at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

Atherton lodged a complaint before the NBI-7 against all respondents and an investigation was conducted by the NBI.

In his counter-affidavit, Pepito denied threatening the Athertons, saying he had no motive to do so. He claimed nothing happened at the parking lot as everybody already calmed down and if it happened it should have been captured by the CCTV.

Soreno, too, denied the allegations against him.

He said that at 1 a.m. on December 24, 2022, he went to the toilet, but had to wait as it was occupied. He said he then noticed Atherton's daughter who was also waiting to use the toilet, so he politely said to her, "Hi, how are you?"

Soreno said that when the girl replied "back-off," he felt awkward so he decided to go back to the table, where his friends were, a few steps away from the toilet.

A few minutes later, the same girl and two male Caucasians and a Filipina went to them. One of the male, whom he later came to know as Atherton, grabbed him by the neck and shoved him onto one of the tables.

The other Caucasian, whose identity remained unknown, went behind him and allegedly strangled him. Soreno said he would have choked to death if not for his friends and fiance who tried to stop the two foreigners.

A scuffle then ensued, which was put to a stop with the help of the staff of F Cafe.

Soreno insisted that he was not from Cebu and so he could not have pretended or claimed to have connections in the city.

Cervantes, on the other hand, said in his sworn statement, that he neither took part in any crime nor in any conspiracy to commit one, adding that they had already settled the issue at the barangay.

Bolongan, meanwhile, said that while Soreno went to the toilet, he was dancing to the music played by the disc jockey. He also insisted that he did not have any reason or foul motive to attack the Athertons.

Ibarlucea, in his counter-affidavit, said he was punched when he tried to come to Soreno’s rescue. The blow, he said,made him dizzy and had him kneeling on the floor. He himself suffered physical injuries from the commotion.

In finding probable cause to indict the accused, the City Prosecutor's Office cited CCTV recordings that corroborated the claim of Atherton's daughter that Soreno approached her twice while she was waiting for her turn at the toilet.

"That she became upset and distressed afterwards is evident by the reaction of her parents. These circumstances reasonably lead to the conclusion that Soreno committed acts and/or uttered words to which the child’s distress could be attributed to," the prosecutors said.

They said that if indeed Soreno merely said "hi", it could not explain why Atherton's daughter got distressed, since "to be upset and to react intensely to a harmless greeting is contrary to normal human experience":.

The prosecutors, though, acknowledged that while another CCTV recording showed Soreno's companions "laughing and throwing looks towards the child’s direction, the same does not show that all of them have come to an agreement to abuse the child or that all or any of them directed Butch Soreno's actions".

There is, however, probable cause to charge all respondents for violating the "Safe Spaces Act" because aside from Soreno making "unwanted sexual comments towards the child", the others act of "looking on, glaring, laughing, and doing acts that emboldened Soreno on to engage with the child have all threatened the latter's personal space and physical safety".

“Respondents' denial about any intention of violating the child's safety or doing any act to vex her are matters that can only be fully threshed upon during a full-blown hearing. Their actuations as reflected in the CCTV recordings are enough to establish probable cause against them,” read the joint resolution.

As to the physical injuries inflicted in a tumultuous affray charge, the prosecutors said the concerted action of punching the complainant, hitting him with a bottle, and physically attacking (the) complainant have been established".

“Respondent's defense that it was (the) complainant who first started the violence is, again, a matter that is best resolved after a full-blown trial,” they said. — (FREEMAN)