Cedric Lee, co-accused transferred to Taguig City Jail

MANILA, Philippines - Businessman Cedric Lee and martial arts expert Simeon Palma Raz Jr.,  accused of illegally detaining television host Ferdinand “Vhong” Navarro, arrived at the Taguig City Jail inside Camp Bagong Diwa Wednesday afternoon.

Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) National Capital Region spokesman Inspector Aris Villaester said Lee and Raz arrived at the Taguig City Jail’s male dormitory at 1:43 p.m.

Villaester said the two were received by Jail Supt. Clement Laboy, warden of the male dormitory of the Taguig City Jail.

Villaester said Lee and Raz will spend a week or more at separate isolation cells before their transfer to any of the cells located at the second, third, and fourth floors of the city jail building.

“It would be for the warden to decide until when they would be in isolation. This is a reception procedure the BJMP has for every new inmate. During this period, we will be assessing the inmate for any security threat to himself or to any other inmate when he gets transferred to a cell,” said Villaester.

On Monday, the Taguig Regional Trial Court Branch 271 released its resolution dated June 16, 2014 that denied the motions of the three accused to stop their possible transfer to the city jail.

In her decision, presiding judge Paz Esperanza Cortes ruled that the Bureau of Corrections has the mandate over national inmates serving sentences of more than three years.

Lee and Raz were previously  detained at the detention facility of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) while their co-accused, model Deniece Cornejo, is still under the custody of the Women and Children Protection Unit of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Camp Crame.

"It is not, therefore, the NBI or the CIDG who has the jurisdiction in this case on the persons of the accused who are awaiting trial," Cortes said in her decision.

"For them to stay at the NBI and the CIDG without any basis would be against the law," she added.

In their motions, Lee and Raz argued that Navarro's "celebrity status" and the case's media exposure make them vulnerable to inmates in a regular jail. They added that "their safety and their lives will be greatly endangered" when they are not allowed to stay in their current detention facilities.

Cornejo in her motion, meanwhile, called the complainant "very famous" with "many loyal, passionate fans across the country, among them are the ardent inmates of regular city jails."

Cortes in her decision added that she personally inspected all three jail facilities under her court’s jurisdiction, including the Taguig City Jail inside Camp Bagong Diwa and also interviewed their respective wardens and inmates.

"The interview of the Court on the detained prisoners had resulted [in] a finding that the detained prisoners had no hatred in mind against the accused herein," Cortes said.

She also noted that the inmates have no access to the Internet and could not be among those who allegedly threatened the accused's lives online.

Cortes added that the inmates are “actually very excited” to welcome the three accused into their cells.

“The welcome is not the kind of welcome that is in the minds of the accused. The excitement is that of ordinary citizens meeting celebrities. The fear of the accused that the private complainant had generated sensational news in his favor being a celebrity has actually also engendered upon them a celebrity status. The female detainees are actually excited to count Ms. Deniece Millinette Cornejo as among the beautiful inmates in jail for the coming beauty contest in October,” the decision said.

Lee and Raz were arrested on April 26 while Cornejo surrendered on May 5. They face charges for serious illegal detention and grave coercion.

Meanwhile, the CIDG on Wednesday said they would still have to wait to be furnished with the court’s decision on the motion for reconsideration filed by Cornejo before she is transferred to the Taguig City Jail.  In her motion for reconsideration, Cornejo again asked the court not to allow her transfer to the Taguig City Jail saying that her safety would be in danger.