CEBU CITY–Singing champ Noveen Belleza is heading back to Metro Manila after posting bail for the case of sexual assault filed by a 19-year-old girl.
Belleza, the first grand champion of Tawag ng Tanghalan, was released about 2 p.m. on Wednesday after posting bail of P120,000.
Judge James Stewart Ramon Himalaloan of the Regional Trial Court Branch 7 had yet to set the arraignment of the case.
Belleza, a rice farmer from Negros Occidental, was named a grand champion in last March’s Tawag ng Tanghalan, a talent search aired on ABS-CBN’s noontime program “Showtime.”
Last Saturday, Belleza performed as a guest in a comedy concert of the noontime show’s host Vice Ganda at the IEC Pavilion in Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City.
After the concert, around 11 p.m., the 22-year-old singer was arrested by operatives of the Mabolo Police Station for allegedly molesting a 19-year-old local performer who also competed in the Tawag ng Tanghalan singing contest.
The girl complained that the singer sexually assaulted her while they were inside the condominium unit in Barangay Lahug, Cebu City, about 2 p.m. of the same day.