VINA and Cedric with Ceana during happier times.
Singer-actress Vina Morales claimed that her daughter Ceana has experienced “slight behavioral changes” after the 7-year-old was forcibly detained by her father, businessman Cedric Lee, for nine days.
Vina said she bought Ceana a puppy, a Pomeranian, “para lang… (just to…),” she said, beginning to explain her attempt to help her child cope with trauma, but abruptly stopping herself.
“Won’t the child feel confused and worried if she would not be able to speak to her mom for several days? She knew that she had to go home every Saturday (whenever she was with her father), but she could not. He did not let her. She is just a child. She would absorb everything, but would not be able to discuss it,” Vina told the Inquirer by phone on Sunday.
The actress explained that the court has previously granted Cedric visitation rights every Saturday. She claimed he violated this by detaining Ceana from May 13 to 22. At the time, Vina was vacationing in Switzerland with her boyfriend Marc Lambert.
She pointed out that “it was the court that called his (Cedric’s) attention and ordered him to hand over my daughter to my family.”
“That had been too traumatic for my daughter. She’s only 7. That’s not a funny joke,” she stressed.
On May 24, Vina’s sister, actress Shaina Magdayao, posted on Instagram a photo of her and Ceana that had this caption: “Reunited. Finally got our baby back yesterday after a stressful week! Thanks everyone for your prayers.”
Dad’s side
Cedric, in an interview withthe Inquirer on Monday, insisted that keeping Ceana with him for nine days was some sort of payback for the 10 days Vina had failed to allow him to visit their daughter.
Earlier, he released a photo to media, showing him with Ceana, implying that they happily spent time together during those days.
“This was witnessed by Vina’s two yayas (nannies) and driver, who even joined us,” Cedric said. “We also asked the court to summon the witnesses—four common friends of ours—who were with me and our daughter during those nine days, to [testify] that our daughter was not traumatized and instead was having so much fun.”
“That’s not the issue, but the fact that he invented his own court ruling,” Vina earlier claimed. “He was never allowed by the court to take Ceana away for 10 days, but he kept insisting on that. There’s nothing wrong with taking Ceana out, but he should not break the rule. I will not keep quiet and simply allow this to happen.”
Vina recently filed a complaint before the San Juan Prosecutor’s Office against Cedric, accusing the latter of violating a court-approved visitation agreement.
Cedric said Vina should not downplay the fact that Ceana enjoyed being with him “because this was the very reason of her motion to stop my visitation,” he pointed out. “She alleged that Ceana was traumatized… We filed a manifestation with the judge on a Friday (May 13), saying we will… [demand] the summer vacation [with my child, that] I am entitled to which I… [had been denied] in 2014 and 2015.”
He said he also informed the court that he would “include the arrears of Vina for the Saturdays she did not give Ceana to me that amounted to 10 days. The judge noted our manifestation. If the judge does not agree, he usually puts a marginal note ‘denied.’ [To] this one, he put ‘noted,’ so we interpreted that as [having been] approved.”
Libel cases
He also argued: “What is wrong with Ceana being with her dad when her mom is out of the country, anyway? I don’t want to explain further. Let her answer the libel cases, instead.”
Cedric earlier threatened to file six counts of libel against his former girlfriend “for all the lies she said about me in media.”
He continued: “I know how Vina thinks. I was with her for almost four years. She will insist on her ways. You cannot reason with her. You need to grab the bull by its horns. That’s why I did everything through the legal process. I am not asking for anything more, just [that she follows] the court compromise agreement, an agreement that she signed in 2013.”
Vina, on the other hand, said she was not the type who would fabricate stories just to get the attention of the media and the public. “That’s not my style. I have been in show biz for 30 years—I’m celebrating my anniversary this year—and you have never heard anyone accuse me of hurting other people,” she stressed.