The petition for a Temporary Protection Order (TPO) filed by model Deniece Cornejo was junked by the Taguig City Regional Trial Court on Friday for lack of merit.
Deniece Cornejo's TPO petition which was filed last February 4 sought to order comedian Vhong Navarro from approaching Cornejo. This also includes a gag order which will prevent Vhong and the media to talk about the rape case.
TPO petition was dismissed by Taguig Regional Trial Court Branch 69 Judge Loriefel Pahimna after a 30-minute hearing on Friday afternoon which was attended by Deniece Cornejo, her lawyer Atty. Howard Calleja and Vhong's lawyer Atty. Alma Mallonga.
"The petition seeks relief that is not really within the powers of the court to grant, which is a gag order against all tv stations, all social media, any third persons. The court, however, eventually ruled to dismiss the case on another basis," Atty. Mallonga told the press.
Atty. Mallonga later explained the decision of the court for dismissing the petition due to lack of basis under Republic Act 9262 (Violence Against Women and Children Law).
"There was no showing of any relationship between Vhong and Deniece under the law. Cases covered by the law involve women and their husbands, ex husbands, or those dating or with sexual relations. Base sa inihaing TPO, ang tanging binanggit na relasyon umano ni Deniece kay Vhong ay ang kaharasan na ginawa ng actor-host. Sabi ng korte, 'Hindi ito ang relasyong pinag-uusapan dito. Walang relasyon na masasakop ng batas.'"
Meanwhile, the DOJ has already submitted for resolution the rape case filed by Deniece Cornejo against Vhong Navarro. The preliminary investigation for the said case was closed by the all-female panel the same day the court denied Deniece's petition for TPO.
The next hearing will happen on February 21 and the DOJ required Cornejo to appear personally along with other names involved in the mauling of Navarro.
