Cedric Lee, Deniece Cornejo, et al and the Social Media

Image courtesy of www.dzmm.abs-cbnnews.com

The public and netizens have gladly welcomed the news on the arrest of suspects Cedric Lee and companion this morning. With the outpouring of public sympathy for the victim Vhong Navarro, netizens said that the news of the arrest meant that justice is slowly but surely moving for the the actor/host.

Fugitive businessman Lee and co-accused Zimmer Raz were arrested Saturdaymorning of April 26, in Oras, Samar.

The arrest of the two who were among those accused in the mauling of actor/tv host Vhong Navarro were conducted by the operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Philippine National Police (PNP) Samar, and the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP). They will be brought to the NBI headquarters in Manila as soon as possible, according to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima in an interview over radio station DZBB early this afternoon.

Cedric and Zimmer, along with Lee’s sister Bernice, model Deniece Cornejo and several cohorts in the assault were charged with grave coercion and serious illegal detention, after they allegedly framed Navarro for raping Cornejo inside her condominium unit last January. Serious illegal detention is a non-bailable offense.

Earlier, Cornejo and Sajed “Jed” Fernandez Abuhijleh posted bail of P12,000 each for grave coercion raps filed by Navarro at the Taguig Metropolitan Trial Court.

The series of events began after the mauling of Vhong on January 22 in a unit in Forbeswood Heights, Taguig City. People were shocked and aghast when the bloodied and seriously injured Navarro appeared on television and narrated his ordeal before the horrified public.

Since then, the public's outpouring of sympathy for Vhong and outrage at Cedric, Deniece and company began to flood the social media. Fans and friends of Vhong in and out of showbiz, as well as various media organizations were one in saying that the incident should be seriously and hastily addressed fearing that the suspects - well connected and moneyed - would just play around with the law and elude prosecution.

There were alleged reports that the mauling of Vhong was not the first one attributed to Cedric and his men. Various names of popular actors such as John Lloyd Cruz and Jake Cuenca were also reportedly victimized by the group, to which the two, fearing the repercussions on their lives and career have reportedly paid up and kept mum on the matter. Pressed for comments after the Vhong incident, John Lloyd denied the rumor attributed to him.

What probably kept the authorities on their toes is that apart from it being a high profile case, tremendous pressure from the furious netizens who had relentlessly barraged the social media also did it in.

For the meantime, the alert public is not putting its guards down. If their strong sentiments on the Vhong, Cedric/Deniece, et al, incident have put pressure on the authorities, the public outrage on the rape of the country's coffers will spell the difference.

Next to watch out for - the Pork Barrel Saga and its alleged mastermind and beneficiaries - Janet Lim Napoles and the men in the halls of Congress.