Businessman Cedric Lee is once more embroiled in a legal battle as he now has to fight to regain visitation rights to his daughter Ceana, whom he shares with Vina Morales.
Morales is seeking for sole custody after accusing Lee of taking Ceana without her consent, and forcibly detaining the child.
Morales, who just arrived from a vacation abroad with boyfriend Marc Lambert, said in a statement to the Philippine Entertainment Portal (PEP.ph) that Lee violated a court order that limits his visitation rights to Saturdays. The following are the detials of PEP’s article by Ariel Serato.
“Cedric detained my daughter Ceana forcibly without my permission for 9 days while I was away, and violated the court-approved visitation rights every Saturday,” Morales said.
The actress also revealed that Ceana was traumatized by the incident, pushing the 40-year-old mom to fight back against her ex. She is also asking the court to let Ceana undergo a psychological test because of the trauma.
“She is seven years old and was confused with what happened and a bit traumatized,” Morales said. Ceana turned 7 just last May.
Morales narrated how when she called up the babysitter and spoke to her daughter to tell her to go home already, Ceana said she wanted to go home but “daddy doesn’t want me to go.” The conversation was cut short because Lee had allegedly taken the phone and hung up.
Read on to find out if Morales got Ceana back
Morales fights back
Ceana has since been returned to the Morales family. She was handed over in court to Shaina Magdayao, Morales’ sister, on May 23.
Below is an Instagram post by Magdayao documenting the reunion:
“So kung noon ay hindi ako lumalaban at tahimik ako ay dahil iniisip ko ang anak ko. Meaning tatay pa rin siya ng anak ko at ayaw kong mag-comment,” Morales said.
(“I refused to fight back before and I kept quiet because I was thinking of my daughter. Cedric is still the father of my child so I did not want to comment.)
“Ngayon handa na akong lumaban para sa anak ko. May hangganan din ang pambu-bully niya sa akin at sa pamilya ko,” Morales said.
(“Now I am ready to fight back for the sake of my daughter. There is a limit to him bullying me and my family.”)
Morales admitted that she has also been traumatized by the years of bullying she allegedly experienced from Lee.
“At my age, I’m still traumatized because of all the years of bullying,” she said in the vernacular.
She said that though she is brave, she doesn’t like getting into fights and avoids confrontations.
“Pero alam mo yung taong kinukutusan ka araw-araw, binu-bully ka…matututo kang lumaban,” she said.
(You will learn to fight back if you are bullied everyday.)
Morales cited instances when Lee allegedly harassed and threatened Ceana’s babysitter. His driver also allegedly hit the babysitter on the face once.
On June 3, Morales filed a motion to suspend Lee’s visitation rights before the sala of Judge Cesar Sulit of Branch 162 at the San Juan Regional Trial Court.
Click next for Lee’s comments on the issue
Lee denies allegations
Lawyer Ricardo Moreno, legal counsel for Lee, said his client will answer all allegations in the proper forum.
But in a statement to PEP.ph, Lee denied Morales’ allegations. According to him, the custody battle has been ongoing for three years now, and that rules on visitation and holidays were signed in 2013.
He added that Morales herself has violated this agreement on numerous occasions, and that the actress actually owes him 10 days with Ceana.
“During the 8 days I was with Ceana, my lawyers were constantly in touch with her lawyer and family. They knew when I was going to take my daughter home,” Lee said in his defense.
Lee also denied traumatizing his daughter, saying, “My daughter was not aware of the court case we have.”
Lee said that on the 8th day Ceana was with him, Ceana was ordered to appear in court.
“This may have traumatized her as she did not know what was going on. I have never bullied Vina and have gone through the right avenue. I believe my child has a right to have both her father and mother in her life,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lee’s visitation rights have temporarily been suspended. He has 5 days to respond to the motion filed by Morales.
Morales and Lee broke up in 2009, around the time when Morales was pregnant with Ceana.
Since then, Lee has been involved in numerous legal cases, including a tax evasion case, as well as charges for serious illegal detention and grave coercion filed by actor Vhong Navarro in January 2014.
Read: 4 Ways divorce made me a better mom
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