Who Do You Believe? (Vhong Navarro-Deniece Cornejo Case)

“Were you ever a victim of date rape? Everyone's talking about the Vhong Navarro-Deniece Cornejo issue. Who do you believe? Did she just set him up? Did he really attempt rape? Why are some people victim-blaming? Was he just a victim of extortion?”

-(Cosmopolitan Philippines, www.facebook.Cosmopolitan.ph)

There are lots of speculations and hearsays about this controversial issue of It’s Showtime co-host Vhong Navarro who was allegedly accused of attempted rape and was beaten up in a high-end condominium in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, January 22, 2014.

The general public uses the social media as an outlet of their views, judgments and assumptions about the said issue. I have read some discussions of the supporters who sympathized and pitied the actor, while others detested and condemned Navarro with the toughest issue his into right now. Undoubtedly, these contrasting reactions from the viewers triggered me to spend time writing this paper and put my ideas into words.

Who do you believe? It is the typical question people ask when they are talking about Navarro's case. However, this question is quite hard for me to answer and basically, something that "I will not answer". Why? None of us have witness the incident; similarly, none of us know the real score of the story. We only based our judgments and presumptions from the things we heard in the news reports, from a friend, and from someone else's opinion on a Facebook post which I find undependable. Someone's version of a story may be altered or could sometimes be exaggerated at some point. Even the statements of the accused person and the complainant undertake a thorough scrutiny that takes time before someone is proven guilty. Thus, to conclude upon something you are not clear about is not a wise move; you might misjudge the persons involved, clash with other people's interpretation and end up being grilled. 

Consequently, it is evident that this prevailing scandal attests how we ponder about the information we received and how careful we are in making judgments. Now, would you mind answering the question? "Who do you believe? Did she just set him up? Did he really attempt rape?" The decision is in your hands.

*Photo credits to Google