Gabriela scores showing of ‘sex video’
A planned showing of an alleged sex video of Sen. Leila de Lima in a congressional investigation violates de Lima’s rights and the law, the Gabriela Women’s Party said on Thursday.
Gabriela’s Rep. Emmi de Jesus issued the statement in the aftermath of Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez of Davao del Norte saying there is no problem in showing the alleged sex video of de Lima in a congressional probe of the drug trade at the National Bilibid Prisons if it will establish her romantic relationship with her former driver, Ronnie Dayan.
President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly accused de Lima of collecting drug money from inmates as bribe during her tenure as Justice secretary from 2010 to 2015.
The President alleges that de Lima collected the bribe money through Dayan.
De Jesus said airing the alleged sex video only muddles issues central to the investigation of supposed links between government
“The Gabriela Women's Party does not share the view to advance the proposals to present alleged intimate videos purportedly of Sen. Leila de Lima before a congressional probe. It is unnecessary and violative of the rights of any person in any forum whether legal, inter-personal, social, professional or political,” she added.
“No man, woman or child, no - sented for such proposal, deserves to be subjected to the prospect of one's private affairs exposed,” de Jesus added.
Congressional hearings, she argued, should focus their probes on salient pieces of evidence that will point to the involvement of drug the illegal drug trade with respect to existing laws.
In addition, de Jesus invoked the Anti-Voyeurism Law, which provides for respect for human rights and penalizes acts that aim to annihilate any person's honor, dignity and integrity.
The Anti-Voyeurism Law also punishes, among others, the act of broadcasting, through any device, photos, videos or recordings of sexual acts or any similar activities of a person except for the purpose of suppressing or prosecuting the crime of photo or video voyeurism and upon court order.
Alvarez, however, offered no apologies for his earlier stand.
“If the sex video will prove their romantic relationship, then why not show it? We should not be afraid of the truth. She doesn’t want to go to the House to tell us that it is not true, that it wasn’t her on the video. It’s the people who will judge if the sex tape is authentic or otherwise,” he said in a radio interview.
“We should remember that this is not a criminal proceeding. This - ecuting anyone, so I don’t think we will violate any law [in showing the alleged sex video],” Alvarez, a lawyer, added.
The House Committee on Justice will resume its probe of the Bilibid drug trade from October 5 to 7.