MALABON CITY, May 22, 2009—Newly installed Kabataan party-list Rep. Raymond “Mong” Palatino asked the public, especially the youth, to be responsible in using the worldwide web or Internet for it can be both beneficial and dangerous.
The call came amidst the issue of the alleged sex video between GMA-7 talent Katrina Halili and physician, turned celebrity, Dr. Hayden Kho.
The said video was uploaded and distributed via YouTube, a non-commercial video sharing website.
The video, which this reporter also saw, shows the actual sexual intercourse of Kho and Halili.
Later, the video was removed by YouTube management for “violating the website’s policies.”
“YouTube is not for pornography or sexually explicit content. If this describes your video, even if it's a video of yourself, don't post it on YouTube,” says YouTube blog posted under Community Guidelines.
The issue heated-up when Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. asked for a full Senate inquiry about the scandal. He also wanted Kho out from the medical community by canceling his license as a physician.
“The Internet is a very strong medium of information dissemination among the youth, and we would all do good to use it for purposes that do not intend to maliciously malign possible victims of sexual exploitation,” said the 29-year old solon.
Don’t let government impose severe censorship
But he forewarns the government not to use the Kho-Halili case to impose an outright ban or censorship of certain websites.
He said, this recent scandal might give the government reason to impose severe censorship in the Internet.
“Let us not give the government reason to further restrict our rights and freedom of expression,” he said.
Lady Solon outraged by Kho-Halili sex video
Meanwhile, House of Representative Assistant Minority leader and Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) Rep.Liza Maza today expressed support and encouraged the young actress Katrina Halili to file a case to proper bodies if indeed her constitutional right to privacy has been violated.
In a statement sent to CBCPNews, Maza said, Katrina and all other women who have been abused and whose rights to privacy have been violated have every right to file a case. We give Katrina our support and we vow to promote every measure to protect and defend women like her degraded and humiliated by this kind of malicious act.
“It’s time that we look into this matter and push for a legislation that will give women protection against publicizing, proliferating, and selling of private sex videos. It is the women who always lose in these kinds of [sexually explicit] materials. Katrina’s case is only one of the cases of sexual abuse committed against the Filipina,” Maza said in Filipino.
Alarmed over the proliferation of these sex videos, Maza stressed that our laws are not enough vis-à-vis the advancement of the mass media and information technology to protect the Filipino women who become victims of these materials.
She also said that GWP gears up for a roundtable discussion, together with militant women’s group, Gabriela (National Alliance of Women’s Organizations) and legal luminaries on Saturday, May 23 to listen and gather viewpoints about the matter.
Attitude change needed to stop sex scandal proliferation
“Only attitude change will stop sex scandals,” says Rev. Fr. Melvin Castro, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines ’ (CBCP) Episcopal Commission on Family and Life (ECFL), said in a news item posted at the CBCPNews website.
He admitted that the church and society has more work to do in changing people’s attitudes towards sex.
“We have always firmly believed that sex is sacred, it is only fully manifested within a covenanted and committed love which we refer to as marriage… And it is so sacred, it is consummated in the privacy and intimacy between husband and wife,” Castro stated.
Castro said, that the sudden turn of events, is totally “distressing”.
However, Castro said, the faithful, especially women, must learn from Halili’s experience.
“It is a lesson as well that for some of us, we have come to the point that we believe that everyone has a license to do anything what one wants without regard to another person’s feeling… That is what happens to any sexual relationship without reference to true love and no openness to procreation of new life,” he said.
On the other hand, the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP), said they are willing to give assistance to Halili if she asks for the church’s support.
“We will support her,” said AMRSP chairperson Sr. Mary John Mananzan, OSB.
The nun has also denounced the spread of the sex video in both cyberspace and local pirated DVD outlets.
"That was a private thing between them, why does he (Kho) let all the whole world know. Katrina should really pursue her case against Kho,” Mananzan said. (Noel Sales Barcelona)
No comments:
Post a Comment