Deniece, Cedric to face raps at DOJ today

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Justice (DOJ) will proceed with its hearing today on the criminal charges filed by television host and comedian Vhong Navarro against businessman Cedric Lee, model Deniece Cornejo and six others allegedly responsible for beating him up last Jan. 22.

Prosecutor General Claro Arellano said the panel of investigating prosecutors denied Cornejo’s request to postpone the proceedings because the Taguig court hearing her petition for a temporary protection order (TPO) set a hearing also today.    

 â€œOur panel of prosecutors was first to set the hearing on Feb. 14, so they would not allow the request for resetting,” he told reporters.

Cornejo’s lawyer, Howard Calleja, filed the motion with the Taguig Regional Trial Court Branch 69 for a hearing on her TPO petition on Feb. 4, a day after the DOJ panel scheduled the hearing on Navarro’s case.

Navarro’s camp, however, slammed Calleja’s action as a dilatory tactic, saying he knew beforehand that the DOJ hearing on the case that Navarro lodged against Cornejo and Lee was set today.

Navarro earlier filed charges of serious illegal detention, a non-bailable offense; serious physical injury; grave threats; grave coercion; illegal arrest and blackmail against Lee, Cornejo, Lee’s sister Bernice, Ferdinand Guerrero, Zimmer Rance, an alias Mike and two other unidentified men.