Caught between legislation, litigation and titillation

Both Dr. Hayden Kho and Katrina Halili admitted to having an affair two years ago, even though the cosmetic surgeon still had Dr. Vicki Belo as a girlfriend at the time. But as it turns out now, in the midst of the scandal created by their well-circulated sex video, the affair meant different things to them. For Kho, it was "for fun" and "mostly about drugs and sex." For Halili, it was "for love." "Sex, Lies, and Videotape." They could have taken the title from the 1989 movie. They both admitted to having the sex, which Kho admitted to recording on video. But the question now in the public mind is: Who's lying about the other issues? Kho may have admitted taking the videos – all four of them – but is he telling the truth that he had nothing to do with their being spread through the Internet? They both admitted to the affair, which was partly a reason for Kho's breakup with Belo last December. But was it "for fun" or "for love"? Were they using Ecstasy as alleged by Kho during their affair? Was it Halili who gave Kho drugs? Ironically, it was Belo's concern for her own sex video with Kho that led to the discovery, and subsequent spread, of his sex videos with other women, as revealed by Belo's statement read on Thursday at the Senate probe by her lawyer Adel Tamano. After breaking with Kho last December, she wanted to be sure her sex video had been deleted as originally agreed on with Kho. Being a non-techie, she asked two of Kho's friends – Erik Chua and Mark Herbert Rosario – to delete the videos. But as it turned out, Chua, according to Belo, made a copy on DVD, which she gave to Belo as a "gift." So who's behind the spread of the videos? And that is the whole point for Halili, who wants the culprits to be punished, as she wants Kho punished for taking the videos in the first placed. That may yet happen in court. Unfortunately, she's going to get punished for her entire life, and even after, for as long as someone watches those videos, as she herself put it at the Senate hearing. Sure, we could grant that Kho might also be suffering some humiliation, and will suffer humiliation for as long as someone watches those videos. For lawmakers, the issue of the sex videos may be worthy of attention – in aid of legislation. For Halili, of course, it's a matter for litigation. But for many people, it's all in aid of titillation. I can think of a more graphic word that rhymes with that. But you can figure that out yourself. There's a lesson in there somewhere.