Speaker, panel chair see nothing wrong with playing sex video in De Lima probe

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Wednesday said he sees nothing wrong if the alleged sex video involving Senator Leila de Lima would be played during the House inquiry on the proliferation of drugs inside the New Bilibid Prison.

Alvarez said the video should be shown only if it would help establish De Lima's personal relationships with people who could be behind the drug trade inside the NBP.

"Para sa akin ano, wala namang diperensiya na ipanood iyan para malaman ng tao kung totoo iyan o hindi," Alvarez told reporters, adding he has not yet seen the video.

"Well kung talagang kinakailangan dahil para yun ang mag-uugnay kung talagang mayroong personal relationship... Ipapalabas natin hindi dahil na gusto nating panoorin. Ini-establish lang natin yung katotohanan kung talagang me relasyon o wala... E ito isang material ito para magpapatunay kung talagang may relasyon o wala," he added.

Alvarez said if De Lima would insist on refusing to attend the House inquiry, he would just let the people "judge" if the senator was indeed the one in the alleged video.

Alvarez said no law would be violated if the video would be shown during the inquiry, even as he said showing the video in public should not be misconstrued as a form of slut-shaming.

"Of course not. Of course not. Well, she is denying that she is the one involved in that sex video, so kung magde-deny ka aba’y humarap ka dito at sabihin mo hindi ako iyan, di ba?" Alvarez said.

"Ngayon kung ayaw mong mag-deny e let the people judge kung talagang hindi siya yun. I think fair lang naman yun, di ba?" he added.

Asked about the propriety of showing such graphic content, Alvarez said: "Alam mo, I think iyong properiety na iyan, mas important iyong katotohanan."

For his part, Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynadlo Umali, chair of the justice committee that it conducting the drug-related probe, said his committee should first be convinced that showing the video would serve the purpose of the inquiry, which is to aid legislation.

"For as long as it is germane to purpose of the resolution, we will see. Sino ba ito? Is it Jaybee Sebastian and [Leila de Lima] or is this inside the Bilibid? We will look into that. But they will first have to tell us what is the relation of this particular video to the resolution," said Umali, saying the committee will have to vote as a collegial body and that he only constitutes to one vote.

Sebastian was earlier tagged by fellow inmates during last week's House inquiry as being responsible for tapping them into collecting drug money for De Lima's senatorial campaign kitty.

De Lima would later reveal that Sebastian was the government's asset who was helpful in the conduct of a raid in December 2015 that led to the confiscation of contraband at the NBP and isolation of 19 high-profile inmates.

Horror story

Congressmen from the minority bloc, however, are not cool with the idea of showing the video.

"Iyong video showing na napanuod ko. Hindi na naman dapat gamitin iyon at ipakita sa lahat... I think we all share the same conviction. Hindi na dapat ipakita iyan," said Buhay Rep. Jose "Lito" Atienza Jr at a news briefing.

"Kung hindi niyo nakita masuwerte kayo dahil hindi kayo nakakita ng horror story dahil nakakatakot... Ako napanuod ko, panget. Panget iyong mga performers eh," he said.

Minority Leader Danilo Suarez meanwhile said he would advice Alvarez to "think twice" about showing the video.

"Siguro naman hindi nakailangan ipakita ang video in a congressional video... Kung maganda sa mata, ipakita. Kung hindi naman, eh di huwag na," Suarez said. —NB, GMA News