Miriam: Sex video convicts Hayden Kho
Beauty doctor Hayden Kho could be prosecuted for committing "psychological violence" against actress Katrina Halili, and their sex video would convict him.
This is the opinion of Senator Miriam Santiago who, even before the Kho-Halili sex video scandal erupted, filed a bill to criminalize photo and video voyeurism.
Santiago said that under Republic Act 9262 or the Anti-Violence against Women and Children Act, a person who has or had a sexual or dating relationship with a woman is guilty of committing psychological violence against her through acts causing her mental or emotion anguish, public ridicule, or humiliation.
Earlier, Kho's lawyer said the doctor was undergoing psychological counselling, triggering speculation Kho might cite illness, "possibly, insanity" as a defense.
But Santiago said: "Insanity is very easy to raise but it is very difficult to prove."
The former trial judge said that to prove insanity, one has to prove that a person is so far removed from reality that he no longer has a clear grasp of reality as all the rest of the community sees it.
"But (Kho) appears to be fully cognizant of reality. He has never appeared in public that he has indicated other signs of insanity. So he cannot claim that overnight that he became insane. That defense of insanity is not going to prove useful to him at all. He's going to get convicted if that is his only defense," Santiago said.
"In my view, unless he can come up with another theory apart from the insanity theory, he has no defense. The video convicts him," she added.
Santiago's bill defines photo and video voyeurism as "the act of capturing an image of the private area of the individual without (the individual's) consent, and knowingly doing it under circumstances in which the individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy."
The bill has hurdled the committee level and is awaiting plenary debates.
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Miriam Santiago
A no nonsense law that will protect the ordinary citizen from this sex voyeurism is what we need for so long. A lot of our women, children, and even men were so long been deprived of protection under our laws against this very abhorring predators due to the fact that the laws on privacy only entails very minimal punishment and the bar is held higher against the victims. The culprits almost always hide under the same law on privacy and their human rights of self expression and of the press and whatever other weak laws under our copied constitution and jurisprudence.
It is about time that the Filipino people start to have laws that will cater to the specific needs and morality of our people and not of those laws based on the immoral acceptance of things that are very much foreign to our own culture. Let the Philippine laws trully reflect the aspiration, culture, and dreams of our people and not copycat laws from foreign cultures. Our laws must be imbued with our own morality and sensitivities!!
Miriam Defensor is the one
Miriam Defensor is the one who is clearly out of touch here,Wht is really wrong with this lawmaker ?? she picks fights on people she could use to promote her loudmouth agenda once again, Have we forgotten how this wome legislator sold us,on that World Bank fiasco, and now she is again, trying to force her own twisted judgement on a n ordinary citizen,STOP USING TO MEDIA or someones misery to promote your twisted agaend again Miriam Defensor,you are one of the most corrupt lawmaker in the senate,Do your country a favor and get lost!!!