On Cedric Lee and Deniece Cornejo's Right to Bail

With the recent development of Vhong Navarro-Cedric Lee-Deniece Cornejo's legal

battle, Vhong Navarro appears to be triumphant this early. It was already
broadcasted that the rape case filed by Deniece Cornejo against Vhong Navarro was
junked by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for utter lack of probable cause. Meaning
to say, the DOJ was convinced that Vhong Navarro is innocent and there was no
probability based on the evidences submitted by both camps that he did commit
the crime charged.
On the other hand, Cedric Lee and Deniece Cornejo (among the persons charged
with cases filed by Vhong Navarro) were successfully indicted with Grave Coercion,
Serious Physical Injuries and Serious Illegal Detention. Among the three charges,
Serious Illegal Detention is not bailable.
But with the prompt action of Lee and Cornejo's camp, the issuance of the warrants
of their arrest in Serious Illegal Detention Case was forestalled due to the timely
motion for reconsideration. Thus, for the time being, Cedric Lee and Deniece
Cornejo could not be arrested.
However, just very recently, the Regional Trial Court of Taguig has issued warrant for
the arrest of respondents Cedric Lee and Deniece Cornejo, among others. Thus,
authorities are now in the pursuit of arresting those persons listed in the said
warrant.
Bail is the security given for the release of a person in custody of the law,
furnished by him or a bondsman, to guarantee his appearance before any
court as required under the conditions specified by law.
Based on the definition of bail, it is just a security to guarantee the appearance of
the accused before any court. It is not necessarily that the bail shall only be posted
by the accused himself for the same shall be posted by other person in favor of the
accused. The person posting the bond is called a bondsman.
As provided also in the law, bail may be given in the form of corporate surety,
property bond, cash deposit, or recognizance. Property bonds and cash deposits
are the most common forms of bail posted by the bondsman.
Considering that bail is just a security for the temporary release of the accused,
once the case has been terminated, the same shall be released back to the
bondsman. It will serve no other purpose once the case has been terminated or
disposed with finality.
In the case of Lee and Cornejo, considering that the cases of Grave Coercion and
Serious Physical Injuries are both bailable offenses, they have the rights to post
bonds for them. This is the right guaranteed to them by law.

All persons in custody shall be admitted to bail as a matter of right, with

sufficient sureties, or released on recognizance as prescribed by law or by
the Rules of Court (a) before or after conviction by the Metropolitan Trial
Court, Municipal Trial Court, Municipal Trial Court in Cities, or Municipal
Circuit Trial Court, and (b) before conviction by the Regional Trial Court of
an offense no punishable by death, reclusion perpetua, or life
imprisonment.
The penalties involved in the crimes of Serious Physical Injuries and Grave Coercion
are both Prision Correccional or imprisonment of six months and one day to six
years, thus, the cases are bailable.
As what the law provides, the accused have the right to post bail. As of this writing,
some of the accused including Cedric Lee and Deniece Cornejo have already posted
bonds for their temporary liberties as far as the crime of Grave Coercion is
concerned.
No person charged with a capital offense, or an offense punishable by
reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment, shall be admitted to bail when
the evidence of guilt is strong, regardless of the stage of the criminal
prosecution.
Considering that the crime of Serious Illegal Detention has a penalty of reclusion
perpetua to death, Cedric Lee and Deniece Cornejo cannot post bail as a matter of
right. It is very clear in the provision of the law that when the penalty involves is
reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment or death, no person charged with such
offense shall be admitted to bail.
Would this be absolute? The provision of the law appears with an exemption. It has
a phrase "when the evidence of guilt is strong". What does it mean?
The accused involved will not be admitted to bail only when the evidence of guilt is
strong. Thus, the camp of Cedric Lee and Deniece Cornejo has still the last
recourse.
What would Lee-Cornejo camp do is the filing of a motion to fix bail. In this
proceeding, the prosecution is required to present evidences until the court is
convinced that the evidences submitted are either strong or not.
When the court is convinced that the evidences of guilt are strong, then it would
deny the motion to fix bail. However, if the court sees that such evidences are not
strong, then it would grant the petition and then would fix the bail for the temporary
liberties of the accused.
~

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima questioned yesterday the decision of a Taguig judge
who granted temporary liberty to three accused in the non-bailable serious illegal
detention case stemming from an attack on comedian Ferdinand Vhong Navarro
last January.
We were shocked by the decision. What I know is that we have strong and solid
evidence against them, the Department of Justice (DOJ) chief told reporters in an
interview.
De Lima stressed that their three-woman team of prosecutors have been very
competent in handling the case against businessman Cedric Lee, model Deniece
Cornejo and mixed martial artist Zimmer Raz alongside the private prosecutors.
We dont just file cases in court without evidence. Once our (prosecutors) filed the
case, it means they are convinced that there was probable cause in the complaint. I
also believed that there was probable cause in this serious illegal detention case,
she pointed out in explaining why the development came as a surprise.
Because of this, De Lima said their prosecutors immediately appealed the ruling of
the trial court.
She said the prosecution team also sought the inhibition of Regional Trial Court
Branch 271 Judge Paz Esperanza Cortes from the case.
Nation ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1
The panel said they have lost faith and confidence in the ability of the judge to
objectively resolve that matter. They believed that the bail grant was very wrong
and that it was already predetermined or predisposed on the part of the judge, the
DOJ chief said.
Navarros lawyer, Alma Mallonga, said yesterday she filed a motion for
reconsideration and a motion to inhibit Cortes. She said she tried to have both
motions heard yesterday, but Cortes said there was no basis for her to defer the
release of the accused and set the motions for hearing on Friday.
Mallonga said their motion to inhibit Cortes is anchored on compelling grounds
such as her ruling being based on the affidavits the accused had executed when
they had not testified in court. Certain evidence that we have presented have not
been appreciated by the court.
No flights abroad
De Lima also stressed that the three accused could not just leave the country after
posting bail of P500,000 each, as approved by the RTC.
Under the rules of court and as one of the conditions for the grant of bail, an
accused cannot just leave the jurisdiction of the Philippines. They would have to

secure permission from the court if they want to leave for a valid reason, she
explained.
De Lima added that there is a standing immigration lookout bulletin order against
the three, which would suffice to stop their possible flight without court approval.
Lee and Raz posted bail yesterday morning while Cornejo posted hers in the
afternoon. The two men walked out of the male dormitory of the Taguig City Jail
while Cornejo remains detained at the office of the Criminal Investigation and
Detection Group in Camp Crame after failing to secure her certificate of detention,
which is needed to process her release papers.
Cornejo said she learned a lot while in jail for the last four months.
I believe everything has a purpose, Cornejo said. Its not the judge or the
evidence that saves, but it is my faith.
Cornejo surrendered to the police authorities last May 5 after the Taguig City court
issued a warrant of arrest against her and Lees group for beating up Navarro, whom
she accused of raping her inside a condominium unit in January.
The court has dismissed the rape case against Navarro, who filed counter charges of
illegal detention and physical injuries against Cornejos group.
Cornejo said she feels like she is on cloud nine and plans to go directly to church
once she is free on bail. She added that she has no more plans of going back to
show business.
~

1) What is a GRAVE COERCION:

Grave coercion is committed when a person who, without authority of law, shall by
means of violence, prevent another from doing something not prohibited by law or
compel to do something against his will, either it be right or wrong. 1 The three
elements of grave coercion are: [1] that any person be prevented by another from
doing something not prohibited by law, or compelled to do something against his
will, be it right or wrong; [2] that the prevention or compulsion be effected by
violence, either by material force or such display of it as would produce intimidation
and control the will of the offended party, and [3] that the person who restrained
the will and liberty of another had no right to do so, or, in other words, that the
restraint was not made under authority of law or in the exercise of a lawful right. 2
1. Article 286, Revised Penal Code.
2 Justice Ramon C. Aquino, The Revised Penal Code, Book 11, 1976,p.1392.
2. Penalty for Grave Coercion:

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7890

Section 1. Article 286, Sec. Three, Chapter Two, Title Nine of Act No. 3815, as
amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows:
Art. 286. Grave Coercion. The penalty of prision correccional and a fine not
exceeding Six thousand pesos shall be imposed upon any person who, without any
authority of law, shall, by means of violence, threats or intimidation, prevent
another from doing something not prohibited by law, or compel him to do
something against his will, whether it be right or wrong.
If the coercion be committed in violation of the exercise of the right of suffrage, or
for the purpose of compelling another to perform any religious act, to prevent him
from exercising such right or from so doing such act, the penalty next higher in
degree shall be imposed.
3. What is Illegal detention?
Illegal detention is the unjustifiable imprisonment or the unlawful deprivation of
liberty of a person by way of arrest for a wrongful cause or suspicion and the
continued restriction of personal freedom by retaining such person in custody.
4. Penalty for Serious illegal detention
REPUBLIC ACT No. 18
Sec. 2. Article two hundred sixty-seven of the Revised Penal Code is hereby
amended to read as follows:
Art. 267. Kidnapping and serious illegal detention. Any private individual who
shall kidnap or detain another, or in any other manner deprive him of his liberty,
shall suffer the penalty of reclusion temporal in its maximum period to death:
1.

If the kidnapping or detention shall have lasted more than five days.

2. If it shall have been committed simulating public authority.

3. If any serious physical injuries shall have been inflicted upon the person
kidnapped or detained, or if threats to kill him shall have been made.
4. If the person kidnapped or detained shall be a minor, female or a public officer.
The penalty shall be reclusion perpetua to death where the kidnapping or
detention was committed for the purpose of extorting ransom from the victim or
any other person, even if none of the circumstances above mentioned were present
in the commission of the offense.
5. Bail as defined

Bail is the security given for the release of a person in custody of the law, furnished
by him or a bondsman, to guarantee his appearance before any court as required
under the conditions specified by law.
Considering that bail is just a security for the temporary release of the accused,
once the case has been terminated, the same shall be released back to the
bondsman. It will serve no other purpose once the case has been terminated or
disposed with finality.
All persons in custody shall be admitted to bail as a matter of right, with sufficient
sureties, or released on recognizance as prescribed by law or by the Rules of Court
(a) before or after conviction by the Metropolitan Trial Court, Municipal Trial Court,
Municipal Trial Court in Cities, or Municipal Circuit Trial Court, and (b) before
conviction by the Regional Trial Court of an offense no punishable by death,
reclusion perpetua, or life imprisonment.
No person charged with a capital offense, or an offense punishable by reclusion
perpetua or life imprisonment, shall be admitted to bail when the evidence of
guilt is strong,regardless of the stage of the criminal prosecution.
The provision of the law appears with an exemption. It has a phrase when the
evidence of guilt is strong.
What would Lee-Cornejo camp do is the filing of a motion to fix bail. In this
proceeding, the prosecution is required to present evidences until the court is
convinced that the evidences submitted are either strong or not.
When the court is convinced that the evidences of guilt are strong, then it would
deny the motion to fix bail. However, if the court sees that such evidences are not
strong, then it would grant the petition and then would fix the bail for the temporary
liberties of the accused.