'Hayden cam' case: Senate starts 'Hayden cam' probe

MANILA, Philippines - The Senate started its probe, about an hour behind schedule, on Thursday afternoon on the sex videos involving Dr. Hayden Kho with several women, including actress Katrina Halili. Halili, who arrived accompanied by lawyers Marlito Tan and Raymund Palad, and Kho, who was with lawyers Lorna Kapunan and his mother Mrs. Irene Kho, were not inside the room when the hearing started. Also present in the hearing, which is being conducted by the Senate Committees on Youth, Women, and Family Relations and on Public Information and Mass Media were lawyers Adel Tamano, representing Dr. Vicki Belo, and Noel Malaya, representing talent manager Lolit Solis. Dr. Erik Johnston Chua, accused of disseminating the videos and posting it on the Internet; and Maricar Reyes, allegedly one of the women videotaped by Kho, were invited but did not confirm their attendance in the probe. Others present were Director German Doria, Philippine National Police director for community relations; Assistant Secretary Roberto Santiago, deputy director general for administration of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency; lawyer Rosendo Meneses, executive director of the Optical Media Board; Commissioner Angelo Timoteo Diaz de Rivera of the Commission on Information and Communication Technology. Also attending were Commissioner Ma. Victoria Cardona of the Commission on Human Rights; lawyer Nestor Mantaring, director of the National Bureau of Investigation; Vicente de Guzman III, chief of NBI Anti-Fraud and Computer Crime Division; and lawyer Dulfie Tobias-Shalim, officer in charge of the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Social Technology Bureau. The Senate investigation stemmed from the privilege speech of Sen. Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. titled "A Doctor’s Perversity" where he scored Kho for videotaping his sexual acts with the women without their consent and having the footage posted on the Internet. Kho had already apologized to those affected by his collection of sex videos but insisted that he had nothing to do with its spread on the Internet. Halili refused to accept Kho's apology, saying that the doctor should suffer the consequences of his actions. The actress had also sought the revocation of Kho's medical license by the Philippine Medical Association. - AMITA O. LEGASPI, GMANews.TV (Watch GMA Network’s live video streaming of the Senate hearing on the sex video scandal involving Dr. Hayden Kho Jr. by clicking this Site.)