THE Taguig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) has rejected the Motion for Reconsideration (MR) of controversial model Deniece Cornejo to reverse the bail grant accorded to actor Vhong Navarro and bring him back to detention.
Through an order issued January 12 Judge Loralie Cruz Datahan of Taguig RTC Branch 69, the court said that the motion for reconsideration basically “lacks merit” as there was no conformity from the public prosecutor when Cornejo filed the motion.
Prosecutor’s call
“Time and again, the Supreme Court (SC) has emphasized that criminal actions shall be prosecuted under the direction and control of the prosecutor,” Datahan said.
All criminal actions commenced by a complaint or information shall be prosecuted under the direction and control of the prosecutor.”
“A private party does not have the legal personality to prosecute the criminal aspect of a case, as it is the People of the Philippines who are the real party in interest. The criminal case must be under the direction and control of the public prosecutor.”
The court is hearing the rape charges Cornejo filed against Navarro referring to their encounter in January 2014
Judge: No to inhibition
“When the public prosecutor does not give his or her conformity to the pleading of a party, the party does not have the required legal personality to pursue the case,” it added.
Furthemore, the court too likewise ruled against Cornejo’s motion to inhibit the judge from the case over allegations of supposedly siding with Navarro.
Moreover, the three-page order said “the present motion deserves scant consideration from this court.”
P1 million in bail
Just before the year ended, Navarro was granted a P1 million bail order by the court on grounds that Cornejo’s statements were marred with inconsistencies that were too material not to notice.
Cornejo soon after made a move to recall the bail order.
Under Article 266-A of the Revised Penal Code is a non-bailable offense, but the court may grant bail if the prosecution’s evidence is weak.
Also read:
Court allows Vhong Navarro to post bail
Why Vhong Navarro was granted bail
