MANILA, Philippines — Deniece Cornejo's father, Dennis Cornejo, said his daughter was a victim of "trial by publicity."
Deniece was recently sentenced to life imprisonment with businessman Cedric Lee and two others by the Taguig Regional Trial Court Branch 153, citing serious illegal detention for ransom filed by host Vhong Navarro.
In his interview with Pep.ph, Dennis said they were heartbroken by the decision of the court.
“Trial by publicity ang nangyari sa amin, e. Kami, mga simpleng tao lang kaya durog na durog kami talaga. Pero kami naman, nire-respeto namin kung ano ang magiging desisyon," he said.
“It was very, very painful na ganoon ang magiging result. Masyadong masakit sa part namin," he added.
Dennis said that he was surprised with the ransom allegation in the serious illegal detention charges.
“Deniece texted me na there will be a promulgation on May 2 so I told her, 'Good luck and keep her faith. Whatever happens, let’s accept it.' Ang wala sa isip ko, 'yung serious illegal detention for ransom," he said.
"Kasi noong 2014, serious illegal detention lang ang pinaglabanan. Ngayon, nadagdagan ng ransom.
"From the day it happened, talagang dala-dala ko ang burden. Dala-dala ko yan — 'yung galit, 'yung lungkot, and everything. Pero ang nagpapalakas sa akin, 'yung faith ko sa Diyos."
Dennis said that his daughter, Deniece, may be hard-headed sometimes but she is not a criminal.
“Sino pa ba ang makakakilala sa mga anak kundi ang kanilang mga magulang? Ang anak ko, hindi gagawa ng mga ganyang bagay. Oo, naging matigas ang ulo niya. Ganoon naman talaga ang mga bata kasi, Deniece, she wants to be independent," he said.
“Pero hindi siya kriminal! Naging ganoon lang ang tema dahil nakatapat kami ng kilalang tao. My daughter is just a simple person. Wala siyang nakaaway na tao.
“But she’s really a strong woman. Nakita naman na nu'ng dinadala na siya sa kulungan, hindi siya nakayuko, kasi she’s telling the truth,” he added.
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