Raymond Fortun: People accuse me of being pera-pera

Manila, Philippines – Raymond Fortun on his Facebook post revealed some major reasons why he voluntarily resigned as spokesman of Cedric Lee, the businessman involved in the beating of comedian Vhong Navarro at Forbeswood Heights condominium in Taguig City.

Raymond Fortun Facebook post

The high profile lawyer from Fortun Law Office said that money is not the primary reason why he grabbed the job as spokesman of Cedric Lee. Fortun is aware that people accused him of being 'pera-pera".

"I come from a family where money was not a primary goal in life; yet, people who have NO CLUE would accuse me of being "pera-pera".", Fortun said.

Read: Raymond Fortun resigns as Cedric Lee's spokesman

Fortun emphasized that the country is just not ready to be fair as pre-judgement of the case is observed before the due process of law.

"All I wanted was for people to be fair, to let the evidence come out before they rendered a guilty verdict. More importantly, i just wanted people to respect the accused's Constitutional rights to due process. But... this country is just not ready to be fair.", Fortun added.

As of press time, Fortun on his Facebook post continue to receive admiration from those who idolize him as lawyer and those who believe on his standpoint.

"I agree with you Atty., a person is considered innocent until proven otherwise and every individual is entitled to due process. I support you and will continue to follow you in your post whether in legal matters or wedding photography. I consider you to be one of the best legal minds this country has. God Bless you and your Family sir.", one of the comment on his post stated.

He also asked the public why he is being bashed though he didn't make controversial announcement.

"Reality check, bro. Why am I being bashed, even when I don't make controversial statements like "DC and CL are innocent, I am confident that they will be acquitted" or "the CCTV is tampered"? Think, bro. Why is it that Vhong would even text Tony Calvento na justice is near by my resignation?", Fortun said in one of his comments.

"I do not blame them. Idol nila Ang involved, whether or not meron din syang Mali (AND I AM NOT SAYING MERON SYANG MALI, OK?). Malubha yung pagkakabugbog. So I truly understand. But.... Still does not grant anybody the license to bash, hurl invectives and call their lawyer as "pera-pera". That one hurt because it just isn't true.", Fortun commented.

Fortun is most known as a lawyer to Erap Estrada and popular personalities like Kris Aquino, Katrina Legarda, Willie Revillame and Dr. Vicky Belo.

Here's the full statement of Raymond Fortun as posted on his Facebook account:

WE AIN'T READY.

The cat is out of the bag. I'm out.

I come from a family of lawyers; my dad is a retired RTC judge and my mom is a practicing lawyer. I grew up in a household where honour is more important that money. I saw my father reject bribes meant to favour parties in his court. He decided cases fast, and hated lawyers who were late. My mom would come home tired from work at around 10pm (she worked at the Supreme Court up to 5pm, then taught up to 9pm for additional income to sustain the expenses of having 6 children), and still finish making my xmas parol up to 2am. My dad the RTC Judge drove around in a Minica that he couldn't have repainted properly because we didn't have enough money.

I come from a family where money was not a primary goal in life; yet, people who have NO CLUE would accuse me of being "pera-pera". That comment (aside from those who would include my wife and children in their cursing) hurt the most. People can be really cruel even if they do not know the real score.

All i wanted was for people to be fair, to let the evidence come out before they rendered a guilty verdict. More importantly, i just wanted people to respect the accused's Constitutional rights to due process. But... this country is just not ready to be fair.

There is a lesson even in failure. More than ever, i learned that our laws are not yet complete to protect the accused AND their lawyers; i will have a say on that in the near future. To those of you (you know who you are) who have somehow been remiss: the next time something like this happens, do reflect on why even the worst criminal is entitled to be represented by a lawyer, and why whatever hate you may have for that person should NEVER extend to someone who is just doing his duty under our laws.

Today, i voluntarily fell on my sword, with the hope that the legal system will be better for the future. May future lawyers learn from this and be stronger than me.



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