DOJ grills Halili, Kho in sex video probe

MANILA, Philippines - Actress Katrina Halili and cosmetic surgeon Hayden Kho Jr. faced government prosecutors yesterday at the preliminary investigation of the Department of Justice (DOJ) into her complaint over the spread of a video showing her having sex with Kho.

The DOJ hearing was closed to media, but their lawyers said the former lovers were questioned on some issues raised in their respective affidavits. The lawyers refused to elaborate, saying the DOJ prohibits them from divulging any more details.

“It felt like we were on trial already – except for presentation of evidence. There was just a clarification on discrepancies in the dates mentioned in affidavits,” Halili’s lawyer, Raymund Palad, told reporters.

Halili and Kho stayed in a common waiting area as they waited their turn to be questioned by prosecutors. The actress went first.

A teary-eyed Halili left the DOJ at around 3 p.m., missing Kho’s ex-girlfriend, popular cosmetic surgeon Dr. Vicki Belo by several minutes. The hearing, however, ran past 5 p.m. and Belo’s turn was set next Tuesday.

Halili refused to issue a statement, saying she doesn’t want to be misinterpreted again as “showbizing” the issue.

The five-man investigating panel led by Senior State Prosecutor Emilie Fe de los Santos set another clarificatory hearing on July 21 and summoned the others accused by Halili as accomplices in the spread of the video: Belo, engineer Eric Johnston Chua, Dr. Mark Herbert “Bistek” Rosario and girlfriend Princess Velasco.

All five are facing charges of violation of Republic Act 9262 (Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act).

Halili sought the indictment of Kho for allegedly videotaping their intimate moments without her consent while the other three for supposedly spreading the video on the Internet.

She based her complaint against Belo, Chua and Rosario on affidavits they submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and also on “admissions made on television interviews.”

Halili added that because of the release of the video, she lost projects and endorsements. She took her oath before State Prosecutor Romeo Senson.

In recommending the filing of a case against Kho, the NBI cited the result of psychological evaluation made by their neuropsychiatric division as one of the grounds. The NBI found Halili to be suffering from “an adjustment disorder with depressed mood” and recommended that she undergo psychotherapy.

The NBI continued to search for the person or persons behind the upload of the sex video on the Internet.

Kho, Belo and the other three have denied Halili’s allegations during earlier hearings.

In her nine-page counter affidavit, Belo claimed she was not the one behind the uploading of the sex video. She also said she destroyed a digital video disc (DVD) containing the sex video, given to her by Chua last Dec. 12.

“The DVD and the hard drive that I destroyed were the only items which contained the videos that came into my possession and I have never distributed or authorized anyone to distribute or make copies of the videos or DVD,” Belo said.

Belo, however, said that after she broke up with Kho in December, she asked Chua and Rosario to get a hard drive and three computers from Kho and retrieve a video showing them having sex. She said she gave Chua specific instructions to delete the file from the computer.

According to her, Chua was able to decode the computers of Kho and retrieve the sex videos with the help of a computer expert in her house in Dasmariñas Village, Makati City.

“Later that evening, Erik arrived at the dinner (in Silk Restaurant) and gave me a DVD. He told me, ‘Here, my gift to you.’ I thought that the DVD contained the video I was looking for. Nonetheless, I was furious that Erik stored the video in a DVD despite my specific instruction to delete the video should he find it,” she said.

But Chua, in his four-page affidavit, contradicted Belo’s testimony. He said the surgeon instructed him to make a copy of the sex videos of Hayden with other women. He said it was even Belo who opened the laptop of Kho because she knew the password.

“Belo handed a recordable DVD and asked me to make a copy of the video. In her presence I made a copy of the videos before deleting the files,” Chua said, adding that from the time he had given Belo the DVD, “she had sole exclusive possession and full control of the said DVD.”

“So I don’t have knowledge of the spread of the video,” he stressed.

The participation of Rosario and Velasco, on the other hand, was limited to the transfer of the computers from Kho’s condominium in Paseo De Roxas, also in Makati City, to Belo’s residence. Both also denied liability.