Cedric Lee, pal back in Manila

MANILA, Philippines - Businessman Cedric Lee and his companion Simeon “Zimmer” Raz Jr. used T-shirts to hide the handcuffs on their hands when they arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 after law enforcers arrested them Saturday in Oras, Eastern Samar for beating up comedian Vhong Navarro.

The suspects arrived on board Philippine Airlines Flight PR 2982 and were escorted by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Lee and Raz are among the seven accused of beating up Navarro last January inside the condominium unit of model Deniece Cornejo, who remains at large.

Lee and Raz were arrested for grave coercion and serious illegal detention, a non-bailable offense.

The Taguig Regional Trial Court had issued warrants for the non-bailable offense of serious illegal detention against Lee, Raz, Cornejo, Ferdinand Guerrero and Jed Fernandez.

Separate warrants of arrest were also issued by the Taguig Metropolitan Trial Court for the grave coercion charges against Lee, Cornejo, Raz, Lee’s sister Bernice, Fernandez, Guerrero, and Jose Paolo Calma.

Bernice, Cornejo and Fernandez have posted P12,000 bail each for the grave coercion case.

Navarro had accused the group of beating him up at Cornejo’s unit at the Forbeswood Heights condominium in Taguig last January 22.

Lee and Raz were brought from the airport to NBI headquarters in Manila on board a dark blue Mitsubishi Adventure.

Lee said he is ready to face the charges against him, and claimed that contrary to the NBI statement, they surrendered and were not arrested, although they were found in Eastern Samar but reside in Manila.

NBI agents were able to track down Lee and Raz in a beach resort in Barangay 13, Dolores, Eastern Samar as early as last Friday, but they were able to escape authorities by jumping off a wall and hiding at a nearby coconut plantation overnight then proceeded to the adjacent town of Oras, where they were cornered by a joint team of NBI and police operatives.

“If they were not caught in Oras, it seems that they had plans to go to Lapinig, Northern Samar then proceed to Taiwan,” according to a bystander who overheard the suspects talking.

But as of last week the NBI trackers had already been following the trail of Lee and Raz, who were reportedly spotted in various places.

Government agents later received reports of sightings of Lee and Raz who were on their way to Quezon, Bicol, and Eastern Samar.

Last Friday, a local police team received a report that the two suspects were spotted before the Holy Week at a beach resort owned by a relative of Lee’s classmate in Eastern Samar.

Police said that an informant who spotted Lee tipped off a local policeman. With Ricky Bautista