Deniece Cornejo, one of the principal accused in the Vhong Navarro mauling and extort try case, denied rumors that she is working in the prostitution industry as an "escort service" girl, according to an email message she sent to a local news daily.
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| Deniece Cornejo poses in an ad for her online fashion store, Dark Closet. |
The statement came after reports about her being a call girl started circulating -- when a certain Greg Binunus, a Malaysian national, let her stay in his condominium unit for free. Binunus said that they first met at a club, according to his affidavit submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
In Cornejo's email message to the Inquirer, she said:
“I have never been employed in any club as an escort,”
“I met Mr. Greg through a girl who purchased goods from me. She happened to work at a piano bar. She gave Mr. Greg my number, hoping that he would purchase goods from me in order for her to get a commission,”
“During my meeting with Mr. Greg, he also discussed his other projects. He mentioned that he was opening a Southeast Asian restaurant … in the Fort and asked me to be an endorser and [to also] help him [in] branding and management since I am a hospitality management student,”
“I then decided to stay in that unit [on] a short-term basis while looking for a more accessible place in exchange for helping him in his business.”
Cornejo had earlier said that aside from being a model and styling consultant, she also owns "Dark Closet," a fashion online store.
Cornejo, along with businessman Cedric Lee and several others are accused of mauling actor Vhong Navarro inside Binunus' rented condominium in Forbeswood Heights, Taguig City. Cornejo, however, said Navarro tried to rape her but her friends led by Lee and his sister, Bernice, arrived in the nick of time to stop him.
Her email message added:
“Victim-blaming is a very common practice throughout the world especially for rape victims: ‘She was dressed provocatively. She had a bad reputation. She should have known better than to put herself in that situation,’”
“victim-blaming is one of the main reasons that women do not want to report rape.”
“And this is why I bought this laptop, in order to do my research on the matter aside from continuing to do my creative work in fashion and design. I find it hard to believe that buying a laptop with a video-editing software has anything to do with me being raped.”
The NBI is currently investigating a report that Cornejo bought a laptop computer with video editing software in a Quezon City store on Jan. 26, days after the mauling of Navarro.