Jamby to House: Pass anti-porn bills

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Jamby Madrigal assailed Speaker Prospero Nograles and other members of the House of Representatives yesterday for saying that the passage of anti-pornography bills to cover sex video scandals was not on their list of priorities.

But Nueva Ecija Rep. Rodolfo Antonino was quick to counter that Madrigal should consult her doctor first before opening her mouth and accusing the House of dragging its feet on bills regarding sex videos in the Internet.

“It may interest Speaker Nograles that the Anti-Child Pornography Bill was passed by the Senate in November of 2008 and that the Upper House has been actively debating many other measures for the well-being and protection of the youth,” Madrigal said.

“I hope that in the future he will refer to the legislative calendar from before the time he became Speaker. History neither waits for nor begins with the Nograles regime,” she added.

Madrigal was reacting to Nograles’ statement that the Senate had not passed any anti-cyber crime bills yet.

In an interview over radio station dwIZ, the senator said she personally inquired with House members if they would tackle the Anti-Child Pornography Bill but was told it would not be on top of their list.

She said she was being criticized for hearing the sex video scandal involving celebrity cosmetic surgeon Hayden Kho and young actress Katrina Halili, but she explained that this was needed to refine the Anti-Child Pornography Bill that the Senate passed to cover secret filming of private sexual acts.

Madrigal expressed hope that the House would take action along with the Senate to curb the proliferation of sex videos.

“The Senate version of the Anti-Child Pornography Bill is stronger and Nograles should study this. He should also know that the other bills are not with my committee but that with of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano,” she said.

Cayetano criticized Madrigal’s way of conducting the hearing on the sex video scandal because, according to him, the proceeding must not be focused on personalities and show business but on the legislation needed to protect people from such kinds of abuse and exploitation.

But the verbal exchange took a further downward spin when Madrigal hit back at Antonino’s personal tirade against her.

“Maybe they are the ones who are desperate. I think Antonino is going crazy and Nograles has Alzheimer’s (disease) because he can no longer remember the bills. That Antonino is not even known and is riding on this issue,” she said.

Madrigal said she would continue with the hearings on the sex video scandal so the legislation she would recommend would be significant and apt for the current situation.

Tit for tat

However, Antonino said Madrigal was making irresponsible comments that the lower chamber did nothing “when in fact House Bill 4315 or the Anti-Cyber Boso Bill was already reported out by the House committee on justice and is already up for plenary sponsorship.”

“Madrigal’s habit of making baseless and irresponsible remarks only shows her desperation to get media attention and exhibits a possible symptom of mental disturbance,” he said.

“The statement of Sen. Madrigal only demonstrates her ignorance and recklessness. Sen. Madrigal must be suffering from another anxiety attack and needs to see her doctor as soon as possible,” he added.

Antonino and Nograles said the senator is completely misinformed.

“If she only tried to research first before opening her mouth, she would have discovered that we have acted on it,” he said, referring to HB 4315, which would “prohibit and penalize the recording of private act or acts and other violations of the privacy of an individual.”

“For her enlightenment, the House had sent to the Senate HB 3305 principally authored by Rep. Manuel ‘Way Kurat’ Zamora, also known as the Anti-Obscenity and Pornography Act of 2007, which penalizes the printing, publication, importation, sale and exhibition of obscene and pornographic materials,” he said.

The bill, according to Nograles, has been pending in the Senate since Feb. 11, 2008.

“This is aside from the fact that HB 4315 is up for plenary sponsorship. So what is she talking about?” he asked. 

Top House priority

The House leadership, through Nograles, has vowed to act on several pending bills that aim to put a stop to the proliferation of sex videos on the Internet and other cyber crimes.

The Speaker said the chamber does not need to conduct an investigation into the Katrina-Hayden sex scandal since the Senate and other government agencies are already conducting probes.

Nograles instructed the House committee on rules chaired by Majority Leader Arthur Defensor to give House Bill 4315 – the Anti-Cyber Boso Bill of Buhay Reps. Irwin Tieng, Rene Velarde and Ma. Carissa Coscolluela – top priority.

In a marginal note, Nograles said the measure should be included in the calendar of business for plenary sponsorship.

He raised alarm over the proliferation of sex videos not only of showbiz personalities but also of unsuspecting private citizens, some of them minors.

HB 4315, co-authored by Reps. Jeci Lapus of Tarlac and Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro, was already approved by the House committee on justice and is now ready for plenary sponsorship and second reading.

Tieng filed the measure in June 2008, expressing alarm over the proliferation of DVDs with obscene sexual acts being sold on sidewalks.

“Evil-spirited individuals continue to debase the image of the offended party by recording the private acts of lovers or partners, usually without the consent of either parties or their consent is vitiated,” he said.

“What is more disgusting is that these recordings are caused by or with the authority of the lovers or partners. Whether it is triggered by a lover’s revenge or just a cheap publicity stunt, the same is against morality and ethics,” Tieng added.

Moral degradation

The Buhay party-list representative also noted that the “sex scandal epidemic” has incalculable effects not only on the reputation and the future of its victims but also on the moral foundation of the country’s youth.

“I can hardly imagine how these victims feel. It must be really traumatic. Congress should now act swiftly to put an end to this scandalous attack on the moral fiber of our youth,” Tieng said.

HB 4315 aims to penalize even the “mere act of recording or any attempt of recording the private act or acts, including but not limited to the sexual act, and other violations of the privacy of an individual which would cause public ridicule, without the consent of the parties, and if there is consent in the recording, there is no assent to its sharing, showing or exhibition to other persons.”

Under the measure, an offender can be punished by imprisonment for not less than six months or more than six years and a fine of P100,000 but not more than P500,000.

“This is considered the highest form of invasion of privacy of the offended party. Such violation is condemnable and needs to be penalized in its highest degree,” Tieng said.

House Deputy Majority Leader Juan Edgardo Angara also highlighted the swift approval of proposed measures intended to strengthen the country’s defense against new forms of high tech criminality.

Angara underscored the need to have a significant piece of legislation that would particularly prohibit and penalize the taking, uploading and distribution of sex videos.

Angara stressed that legislation against cyber crimes should be in place for the prevention, apprehension and prosecution of cyber crimes.

“Congress should be able to pass at the soonest possible time measures that will protect the citizenry from the rising incidents of illegal, malicious and life-threatening acts committed through the use of the Internet, cellular phones and other computer devices,” he said. – Delon Porcalla