Deniece Cornejo, Vhong Navarro and Cedric Lee FILE PHOTOS
Comedian and TV host Vhong Navarro on Thursday stepped up his counteroffensive against his maulers and two rape accusers.
In Manila, the ABS-CBN star filed perjury complaints in the city prosecutor鈥檚 office against model Deniece Cornejo, who had accused him of rape, and her supposed 鈥渞escuers鈥濃�攂usinessman Cedric Lee, his sister, Bernice Lee, and friends JP Calma and Simeon 鈥淶immer鈥� Raz.
The 37-year-old actor filed another perjury complaint in Pasig City, this time against Roxanne Caba帽ero, a former beauty pageant contestant who also sued him for rape days after Cornejo鈥檚 allegations made headlines.
Navarro鈥檚 complaint in Manila wanted Cornejo and company penalized for the 鈥渄emonstrable falsehoods鈥� contained in the counteraffidavits they earlier submitted to the Department of Justice in connection with Navarro鈥檚 complaint for serious illegal detention, the actor鈥檚 lawyer, Alma Mallonga, told reporters.
鈥淏ased on evidence, it鈥檚 very clear that what they said are perjurious. They themselves are contradicting each other. We used what one respondent said to show that what the other said was not true,鈥� Mallonga said.
The lawyer cited Cornejo鈥檚 claim that her 鈥渇riends鈥� caught Navarro in the act of raping her at her condominium unit in Bonifacio Global City and rescued her from the actor on the night of Jan. 22.
In the complaint, Navarro said Lee 鈥渨ent out in public asserting that he had caught me committing 鈥榓ttempted rape鈥� against Deniece, that he saw me supposedly on top of Deniece, naked, with Deniece shouting.鈥�
Navarro also noted that in the police blotter, the first public record of the incident, Cornejo signed as the victim while Lee and his sister, Bernice, signed as witnesses.
鈥淸But] in his new tale, Lee now states that he was only told about the rape by Deniece Cornejo and [that he] arrived at her condominium unit to see me throwing kicks and punches [and] only at one person, 鈥榋immer,鈥欌�� the complaint said.
It also noted that Lee, in his counteraffidavit, had maintained that 鈥渃ontrary to Vhong鈥檚 allegation, I never asked money from him. Instead, it was Vhong who suddenly offered to pay any amount to compensate Deniece for all the damage to her unit.鈥�
鈥淸But] precisely because there was no rape, as asserted by Lee, his allegation that I volunteered to pay money is also a falsehood,鈥� Navarro said in the perjury complaint.
Navarro also cited the text messages he supposedly got from Lee asking him for money.
In Pasig, Navarro filed both a perjury complaint against the 24-year-old Caba帽ero and his reply to the rape complaint she filed last month.
Again assisted by Mallonga, he also came with his younger brother, Fercedan, producer Moises Manio and three members of Navarro鈥檚 dance group Streetboys, namely Abner Molina, Jason Jolloso and Izzan Sabello.
Fercedan, Manio, Molina, Jolloso and Sabello filed their respective affidavits helping Navarro belie the woman鈥檚 allegations that she was raped by the actor on the night of April 24, 2010, at a hotel in Ortigas.
They said it was impossible, since Navarro was with them performing in a concert at Island Cove Resort in Cavite province from 5 p.m. on April 24 to 1 a.m. on April 25.
鈥淲e are just exercising our rights, which we think will protect Vhong, and telling those who are maligning him that we are not taking this sitting down,鈥� Mallonga told reporters.