On January 26, Vhong Navarro broke his silence and talked to Buzz Ng Bayan about the January 22 mauling incident, which allegedly involved model Deniece Cornejo and businessman Cedric Lee. According to Vhong, Deniece had invited him to her condo under the pretense of talking. Once inside her unit, two men appeared and held him at gunpoint. It was then that Cedric appeared and the abuse supposedly began.

Deniece's statement

Now, Deniece and Cedric are airing their side of the story.

“Hindi totoo lahat 'yun (His statement is not entirely true),” Deniece told PEP.ph in an exclusive interview. “And people know me naman kung anong klase akong tao (And people know me and the kind of person I am.). I’m a print ad model. I’m a stylist. I’m a motivational speaker and I studied in an exclusive school.”

“Pinakitaan ko siya ng kabutihan, sinuklian niya ako ng kasamaan (I showed him kindness, he repaid me with the opposite),” she said.

The supposed attempted rape

PEP.ph was also able to get in touch with Cedric who explained that he, together with sister Bernice Lee and friend Zimmer Raz were supposed to pick Deniece up at her condo when they heard what seemed like a fight.

“Pagpasok namin ng pinto, buti na lang hindi naka-lock… Pagpasok namin, wala namang tao sa sala, nasa bedroom (As soon as we entered the door, it was a good thing it was not locked… When we entered, there was nobody in the living room, they were in the bedroom.).”

“'Yung bedroom naman nila, wala namang pintuan, kurtina lang, e. So, pinasok namin ni Zimmer saka ate ko (The bedroom has no door; there was only a curtain. So Zimmer, my sister, and I barged in).”

“Nakita namin 'yung lalaki, nakabukas lang yung pang-ibaba, pero nakabihis pa rin pang-itaas, nakapatong kay Deniece (We saw that the guy had his pants undone, but he still had his top on, above Deniece.).”

“Tapos si Deniece, sumisigaw, sumisipa, tumatadyak. Tinatangka niyang [Vhong] reypin. (And then Deniece screamed and kicked. He [Vhong] was trying to rape her.).”

“Tapos, dinakma ko 'yung lalaki. Nahagis ko sa ibaba ng kama. Si Deniece, tumakbo sa sister ko, lumabas na sila ng condo (Then, I went at the guy. I managed to throw him under the bed. Deniece ran to my sister and they left the condo.).”

“Tapos, kaming dalawa na lang ni Zimmer, binitbit na namin 'yung lalaki para madala namin sa presinto. Pero lumalaban, nanununtok din (Then, Zimmer and I dragged the guy to take him to the precinct. But he kept fighting and punching.).”

The alleged extortion

Cedric also denied that he tried to extort money from Vhong.

“I don’t need to resort to that kind of raket para kumita ng pera (I don't need to resort to that kind of scheme to earn money),” he said. “I’m a legitimate businessman.”

He further clarified that it was Vhong who offered to pay for the damages. “Nag-offer siya na he would pay for the damages, 'yung mga nabasag na gamit dun sa condo, babayaran niya (He offered to pay for the damages, for the things that were broken in the condo.).”

Cedric said that he first had to check the extent of the damage to the condo. “Tinawagan ko siya the next day, baka hindi siya makapagsalita [dahil sa injuries], tinext ko na lang siya (I called him up the next day, thinking he might not be able to talk [because of his injuries], I texted him instead.).”

“Gawin mo na lang one million para kasama na 'yung mga moral damages and everything (Make it one million instead to account for moral damages and everything.).”

The video for blackmail

PEP.ph also asked Cedric about the video that Vhong claimed was being used to blackmail him.

“'Yung video po na tinutukoy niya, bago ko po tinurnover sa police station, kinunan ko 'yung mukha niya ng video para makita, para may evidence ako—ano 'yung extent ng damage that we inflicted on him (The video he was talking about, before we turned him over to the police station, was of me taking a video of his face so that I have evidence of the extent of damage that we inflicted on him.).”

“Para just in case he will report damage, tapos he blames it on us, may ebidensiya ako na hindi (So that just in case he will report damage, and he blames it on us, I have evidence that I didn't)…”

(Photo courtesy of PEP.ph)