MANILA, Philippines – The grandfather of Deniece Cornejo is urging the model to surrender to the authorities in connection with the illegal detention charges filed against her by actor-comedian Vhong Navarro.

In a statement read by Boy Abunda in Buzz ng Bayan, Rod Cornejo said that he believes his granddaughter is innocent and asks the public not to judge her.

“I believe Deniece is telling the truth. Because of this I believe she should immediately submit herself to the authorities and trust the judicial system to determine the truth once and for all,” he said.

“I, therefore, appeal to your viewers to withhold their judgement and allow the process to determine the truth, the truth that sets one free.”

Deniece accused Vhong of raping her last January at her condominium in Taguig City which led to the mauling incident between Vhong and businessman Cedric Lee’s group. The rape case has since been junked by the Department of Justice.

Cedric and another accused Simeon “Zimmer” Raz were arrested in Oras, Eastern Samar last April 26.

Meanwhile, Atty. Emetrio Dongallo of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Samar District in an interview with the show said they believe that Deniece was with Cedric and Simeon while they were in Samar after discovering some women’s clothes at their place.

“Sinearch namin ‘yung bahay. May napansin kaming damit ng babae. Inisip namin na baka nandoon ‘yung isang suspect na babae, si Deniece,” Atty. Dongallo said.

(We searched the house. We noticed women’s clothes. We thought that Deniece might have been there).

Aside from the three, others charged with illegal detention are Ferdinand Guerrero and Jed Fernandez – both remain at large.

Cedric’s sister Bernice Lee and Jose Paolo Calma on the other hand were charged with grave coercion. Three of them – Bernice, Ferdinand, and Deniece were able to post a bail of P12,000.

Calma meanwhile was able to leave the country on April 10 despite a lookout bulletin mentioning his name. – Rappler.com