Tony Calvento claims accused who wants to turn against Cedric Lee, Deniece Cornejo, backed out

Maureen Marie Belmonte

<div><img src='' alt='042714-tonibuzz_main.jpg' width='400' height='290' align='left' border='0'>Seasoned journalist Tony Calvento didn’t even beat around the bush when he dropped the name of Jed Fernandez, one of the accused in Vhong Navarro’s mauling, as the one who is supposedly applying to become a state witness against Cedric Lee.<br/><br/></div><div>Last April 21, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima revealed to the public that one of the accused in the It’s Showtime host’s ongoing legal battle has applied to become a state witness and even detailed the alleged “Oplan Bugbog” as planned by the group of businessman Lee and Deniece Cornejo.<br/><br/></div><div>While she didn’t reveal the identity of this person at that time, de Lima claimed that his draft affidavit contained crucial elements that divulged the minute details of the attack and what’s more is that he is prepared to “tell all.”<br/><br/></div><div>However, in yet another interesting twist of events, Calvento, in a taped interview aired on <i>Buzz ng Bayan</i> on Sunday, revealed that after submitting a draft affidavit, Fernandez has backed out from applying as a state witness for the case.<br/><br/></div><div>“I have no idea. I am only basing <i>sa binanggit sa akin ni </i>Secretary<i> na</i> he changed his mind. He’s a cry baby and that he is very scared of Cedric Lee and what he can do to his family.<i> Umatras siya</i>,” Calvento said.<br/><br/></div><div>Did he think he was duped by Fernandez after surfacing and applying as a state witness and then withdrawing from it?</div><div><i>“Hindi. Hindi ako naisahan. Humarap sila sa </i>DOJ<i> eh. Nagsalita sila doon. Marami kaming nakuha.</i> We have no influence. We have no power. We have no money,” claimed Calvento.<br/><br/></div><div>Despite Fernandez’s change of heart, Navarro and Calvento’s team actually got an important information from the draft affidavit—and that is the name of the seventh man involved in the mauling.<br/><br/></div><div>“‘<i>Yun ‘yung kasama ni</i> Zimmer [Raz] <i>at</i> Bernice [Lee] <i>na pumanik na hindi pa nakikilala hanggang sa ngayon</i>,” described Calvento about the man who’s supposedly holding a duct tape which was used to tie up Navarro on the night of January 22 at a condominium unit in Taguig.<br/><br/></div><div>Although he withheld this person’s last name, Calvento said that the man’s first name is Edgar who functions as a driver and bodyguard of one of the accused.<br/><br/></div><div>As of this writing Fernandez, Cornejo, and a certain “Edgar” remains at large as well as Ferdinand Guerrero, and Jose Paolo Calma who went out of the country last April 1. While the female Lee posted bail last April 22 for the grave coercion case filed against her.<br/><br/></div><div><a href='https://push-data.abs-cbn.com/push/archive/features/10860/cedric-lee-and-simeon-raz-arrested-in-samar/'>Meanwhile, Lee and Raz have already arrived in Manila in handcuffs early Sunday morning, April 27 after being arrested in Oras, Eastern Samar on April 26 for illegal detention charges</a></div>

Despite backing out to become a state witness, Tony Calvento believes that their camp got a lot from Jed Fernandez’s draft affidavit

Tony Calvento claims accused who wants to turn against Cedric Lee, Deniece Cornejo, backed out | PUSH.COM.PH