Atty. Raymond Fortun screamed over the online bashing in connection to his acceptance as hired legal media spokesman of Cedric Lee and Deniece Cornejo in the mauling case of the comedian/TV host Vhong Navarro. Atty. Fortun cried out saying: “I did not Deserve the Criticism I Got” from the netizens in social media and other networking sites.
In an interview with “Umagang Kay Ganda” on Monday, February 17, 2014, Atty. Fortun said he did not deserves all the invectives thrown against his face and that he cannot afford to let anyone destroy his good reputation.
Ang masakit dito, pagkatao ko ang binabanatan. That is the one that hurts the most. Sasabihin ganyan na pera pera lang daw ako. Hindi nila alam na ako ay nanggaling ako sa isang pamilya na parehong abogado. Ang tatay ko ay isang retired RTC judge na ni minsan ay hindi nagpabayad bilang judge. Kami po ay mahirap pa din dahil yung tatay ko ilang beses inalukan iyan na magpanalo ng kaso, ni minsan hindi siya tumanggap. Yung nanay ko po, hanggang 2 a.m. nagsasakripisyo para sa aming magkakapatid para maglagay ng pagkain sa aming mesa,” he said.
Atty. Fortune explained during the interview how he grew up with his family that valued most of reputation and preserved the good name over money.
“People have a right to express their opinions but if it comes down to hurling invectives at sirain ang aking pangalan na napakatagal kong pinaghirapan at matagal na pinaghirapan ng mga magulang ko, hindi ko na po matatanggap iyan. Sometimes, some things are not worth the time,” he said.
Atty. Fortun admitted that his clients are not popular compare to the celebrity icon and TV host Vhong Navarro but accepting these clients (Cedric Lee and Deniece Cornejo) he did not anticipate that people would go beyond the limit of “freedom of expression” and made a personal attack against him.
“Hindi ko inasahan yung katakot-takot na paninira na ginawa ng mga mamamayan. They need to understand that the right to freedom to express the opinion does not include the right to destroy the reputation for the wrong reasons. Hindi po kasama yung pagpapahayag ng pagmumura, yung paninira ng puri ng tao. For me, mas mabuti siguro na magbitiw na lang ako kasi I did not deserve what I got,” he said.
With that situation he has encountered at this time, Atty. Fortun urged then the Supreme Court to facilitate faster the Anti-Cybercrime Law to solve this kind of problem.
“Siguro dapat bilisan na nila ang pagresobla ng Constitutionality ng Cybercrime Law kasi kung meron niyan, sa palagay ko hindi ganito ang gagawin ng mga PIlipino. Magdadalawang isip sila bago magbitiw ng maaanghang na salita laban sa mga kapwa nila,” he said.
Atty. Fortun resigned from being a spokesperson of Cedric Lee and Deniece Cornejo and he made a clarification to the public that the job of determining the guilt or innocence of an accused does not defends upon the hands of the public and we should know and respect the constitutional guarantee of every person’s right to due process, he said.
Related Article: Atty. Raymond Fortun Resigns from being Spokesperson of Cedric Lee and Deniece Cornejo
Related Article: Atty. Fortune Official Statement on Resignation: “I did not deserve the criticism I got”
Related Article: Netizens Praises Atty. Fortun’s Resigns as Cedric Lee’s Legal Spokesman
