Vhong Navarro at the BJMP compound. Image from Facebook / National Bureau of Investigation
Actor-TV host Vhong Navarro has been transferred to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology detention facility in Taguig in connection with the rape case filed by model Deniece Cornejo.
In a decision, Branch 69 of the Taguig Regional Trial Court ordered the transfer of custody of the comedian, whose real name is Ferdinand Navarro, from a detention cell of the National Bureau of Investigation to the Male Dormitory of the BJMP while he is awaiting the court’s ruling on his petition for bail.
The order for transfer was initially received by the NBI last Nov. 14 but it was only on Monday when the transfer took effect.
A picture posted by the NBI in its Facebook page showed the handcuffed actor in a maroon hoodie sweater over the bureau’s orange detainee’s shirt. He was wearing a gray baseball cap and his face was covered with a dark mask.
Vhong Navarro. Images from Facebook / National Bureau of Investigation
Before Navarro would be allowed to join other persons deprived of liberty (PDLs), a fancy name coined by the Department of Justice for inmates awaiting final conviction of their criminal offenses, he would have to first undergo a 15-day quarantine in an isolation cell.
“After completing all the required health protocols, actor Vhong Navarro has been transferred to the BJMP in Taguig City at about 4 o’ clock this afternoon,” the NBI stated in a press release.
Cornejo earlier secured clearance from the court for the BJMP to have custody of the “It’s Showtime” host on the ground that the alleged rape took place in Taguig City.
In her complaint, Cornejo alleged that Navarro had sexually abused her in 2014 inside her condominium unit in Taguig.