BuCor seeks court records to verify release order for Lee, Cornejo

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said it still needs to verify whether Cedric Lee and Deniece Cornejo can be released despite a Court of Appeals order directing their immediate discharge.

Lee and Cornejo are serving sentences related to the serious illegal detention case involving actor and television host Vhong Navarro, which dates back to 2014.

In a statement on Monday, BuCor Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said the bureau will ask the CA for a copy of the Entry of Judgment after the appellate court, in a Sept. 25 order, directed the immediate release of Lee and Cornejo.

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Catapang said BuCor’s actions are part of its “standard records-validation and release procedures.”

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READ: Deniece Cornejo, Cedric Lee, two others set to be released from jail

BuCor is also seeking a Certificate of No Pending Case from the Office of the Clerk of Court of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Taguig City.

The certificate will be included in the documents needed to determine whether the two persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) may be released.

According to records from BuCor’s Person Deprived of Liberty Documents and Processing Division, Lee was placed under BuCor custody on May 3, 2024, based on a commitment order issued by Taguig RTC Branch 153.

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He was initially sentenced to reclusion perpetua for serious illegal detention.

Cornejo was placed under BuCor custody on May 2, 2024, based on the corresponding commitment documents.

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The CA Manila Special Seventeenth Division later modified the conviction, reducing the offense to grave coercion and imposing a sentence of six months to three years, six months and 21 days.

BuCor records, however, show that Lee and Cornejo are also serving sentences in another grave coercion case before Taguig RTC Branch 266.

BuCor said no Entry of Judgment has yet been issued in the second case, prompting the bureau to request the document from the court’s Judicial Records Division.

BuCor said it is “reviewing the records and sentence computations to ensure that any release is carried out in accordance with the appellate court’s order and applicable rules on sentence administration.”

The sentence in that case is six months to three years and six months and was affirmed and modified by the CA Ninth Division.

The combined sentence is four years and 21 days as minimum to seven years and 21 days as maximum.

Based on BuCor’s current computation, Lee’s minimum sentence would be completed on Feb. 18, 2027, while his maximum sentence would end on Feb. 18, 2030.

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Cornejo’s projected minimum sentence completion date is Dec. 23, 2026, and her maximum sentence completion date is Dec. 23, 2029. /mcm