Professionally known as Vhong Navarro, actor, dancer, comedian and television host Ferdinand Hipolito Navarro, 43, recently became the talk of the town in the Philippines. He is one of the current hosts of the ABS-CBN show “It’s Showtime” and is one of the most followed Filipino celebrities on social media today.
Kat Alano
On June 15, 2020, model and host Katherine Anne “Kat” Alano, 34, took to Twitter to accuse a famous celebrity of raping her and many others. She did not mention the rapist’s name but implied that it rhymes with the word “Wrong,” which led to the speculations that she was referring to Navarro.
Alano was born in Birmingham, England, United Kingdom on July 9, 1985 to a Filipino father and an English mother. She was one of the hosts of the ABS-CBN show “Wowowee” from 2005 to 2006.
This was not the first time Alano talked about being raped. However, she never mentioned the name of the culprit.
Deniece Cornejo, Roxanne Acosta
In 2014, Navarro was accused of raping model Deniece Cornejo while he was in a relationship with Tanya Bautista, who is now his wife. Following Cornejo’s claims, former beauty pageant contestant Roxanne Acosta also accused him of raping her in 2010.
Also in 2014, when Alano appeared as a guest on “Good Times with Mo,” she told host Mo Twister that she was raped by a man she met from work. At the time, the host said the name of the rapist “rhymes with wrong.”
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Both Cornejo and Acosta filed charges against Navarro. He won both cases.
According to Alano, she did not file cases against her rapist because she was threatened. She claimed that the culprit has an uncle that was so powerful he could have all cases filed against the comedian dismissed.
Hija Ako
Alano talked about her experience as a rape victim again because of the Hija Ako movement. It all started when the Lucban Municipal Police Station of Lucban, Quezon, Philippines took to social media to tell girls to be careful with what they wear to avoid being abused, which earned the ire of many Filipino netizens.
Among those who chimed in the online conversation were Francisco Pangilian and Sharon Cuneta‘s daughter Frankie Pangilinan, 19, and “Wanted sa Radyo” host Raffy Tulfo‘s brother Ben Tulfo, 65. While Ben seemed to agree with the person behind Lucban Municipal Police Station’s controversial post, Frankie emphasized the blame should never be put on the victims of abuse.
Ben responded to Frankie on Twitter and even called her “Hija,” a Spanish word for daughter. It is also a Filipino word spelled “Iha,” a term used when referring to a young girl.
In the Philippines, “Hija” may be used to call an immature girl who needs to listen to the wisdom of someone older. Frankie went on to use being called “Hija” by a man more than three times her age to start an online conversation called “Hija ako,” which literally means “I am a young girl.”
Apparently, Raffy looks at rape the same way Frankie does. He said a rapist will always rape regardless of what the victim is wearing in a “Wanted sa Radyo” episode where internet sensation Marlou “Xander Ford” Arisala was accused of attempted rape by his former girlfriend Ysah Cabrejas.
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