Thoughts on the Katrina-Hayden sex video

So much has been said and written about the Katrina Halili-Hayden Kho sex video scandal. The controversy has reached the august halls of the Senate and even international shores where the sex video tapes are being sold in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. Sen. Bong Revilla has taken the cudgels for Katrina while the nationalist women’s group Gabriela has come to the rescue of the young star. Various players are now involved aside from Hayden and Katrina — Dr. Vicki Belo, Mrs. Irene Kho, Hayden’s mother, talent manager Manay Lolit Solis, Erik Johnston Chua and Bistek Rosario, former friends of Hayden. Each camp has a version of the story. Others have remained silent. Mrs. Kho accused that Katrina’s appearance and behavior in public were allegedly scripted. It was also Katrina according to Mrs. Kho who supplied drugs to Hayden. Katrina filed a libel case against Mrs. Kho and has submitted herself to a drug test and the result of both Katrina’s and Hayden’s drug tests were negative. Psychologists, meanwhile, are dishing out their own analysis. In an interview with another broadsheet (June 1), Dr. Randy Dellosa (of Pinoy Big Brother fame) said that Hayden’s behavior could be a sign that he is: 1. a “male chauvinist pig” and has low regard for women; 2. could be a publicity stunt to boost his career; 3. he is suffering from gender identity confusion; 4. plain perversion, 5. a voyeur — somebody who feels sexual pleasure from watching unsuspecting people in the nude or engaging in sexual activity.

The sex video scandal is now a multi-level controversy. Hayden vs Katrina, Hayden vs Sen. Bong Revilla, Hayden vs Bistek and Erik, Vicki Belo vs Erik Chua, Mrs. Kho vs Manay Lolit Solis and Hayden and Katrina vs public opinion.

Here are some thoughts on the video sex scandal:

1. Katrina Halili — A friend of mine asked why she is being put on a pedestal. Why is she being portrayed as a saint? She is not. She’s a victim according to her testimony. Her intimate sex act with Hayden was videotaped without her consent. This was a violation of her pagkatao. And she has the right to defend herself.

2. Bong Revilla — Who is he to handle a moral issue? This is not an issue about Bong Revilla or Jinggoy Estrada. Bong is not on trial here. If he wronged anyone then the aggrieved parties can go to the Courts of Law. Senators Bong Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada are both children of showbiz. It is expected of them to be involved in a Senate investigation that involves the entertainment industry. If the premise is that you have to be without sin to fight for let’s say Katrina, then no one will qualify. I was particularly impressed with the way Jinggoy handled himself in the Senate hearing. He was conversant, lucid and forthright. Bravo!

3. Victims — Let’s go back to the issue — who is the victim and the aggressor? Otherwise, we are all victims of someone or of our own weaknesses and excesses. Let us not lose focus on the issues. In this case, some people are guilty, while others have been violated. At the end, the law must prevail.

4. Where is Maricar and the other women in the video tapes? We respect their choice to keep silent. There must be some good reasons why they choose to keep quiet. But should they? Others think that they should come out and seek justice for the wrong that had been done to them.

5. Erik Chua/Bistek Rosario have been implicated in this controversy. Allegedly, they had something to do with the uploading of the tape which is a very serious allegation. Already, Erik has come out to dispel the allegation. He said he has nothing to do with the uploading of the sex tapes on the web. He had deleted the videos in the computer and handed a master copy to Dr. Vicki Belo. Bistek Rosario has also come out in an interview with ABS-CBN’s Jay Ruiz to clear his name for the sake of his family.

6. Mrs. Irene Kho — A mother’s love has no equal. A mother will do anything for a child. Moral of the story — let’s not do anything stupid that will put our mothers in the same situation Mrs. Kho went through.

7. Coping mechanism — Some people have turned the scandal into all sorts of jokes. Should we? Should we trivialize this? They say this is our way of coping with things that we actually can’t handle.

8. Senate hearings are done in aid of legislation. We hope that the anti-boso (voyeurism) law will be enacted really quick.

9. The issue is sensational. It has all the ingredients of sensational news — sex, celebrities, hidden cameras, broken friendship, betrayal. All these appeal to the nature of the beast. This is serious. We try to get all sides of the story and present them to the public who has the fundamental right to know.

10. Here are the two basic issues: Did Hayden violate the rights of the women he had sex with and who had no consent to his taping of the act?; and Who uploaded the videos on the Internet?

11. We forget easily. We make a lot of noise and then we forget. I think this is slowly changing. People are more open about their feelings on national issues like this one. As a result of this controversy, whether we agree or not, places like Bohol and Palawan have declared Hayden persona non grata. Abner Afuang, a former police officer expressed his rage by pouring water on Hayden.

12. Where is this going? Only God knows but we must learn from this fracas. Never mind if this world has become so wired, we should not lose our sense of what is right and what is wrong. And if we’re not vigilant, the truth in this controversy can be the biggest casualty.

Every day we are confronted with new stories on the sex video scandal. More and more names are surfacing. Some people have chosen to remain quiet, others have gone into hiding and the brave ones have opted to go public. God bless us all!