Ongoing investigation in the House of Representatives about the drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City suddenly changed direction when House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez had permitted the release of an alleged sex tape of Senator Leila de Lima.
The logic behind this decision, according to Alvarez, is that he sees nothing wrong with showing the sex tape if that’s what it takes to prove the personal relationship between De Lima and Ronnie Dayan. Ronnie Dayan is De Lima’s former driver who is alleged to be the one collecting the payoffs of the drug lords in Bilibid in behalf of De Lima.
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This was, however, stopped by a warning from Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel, who reminded the people in the House of Representatives that there is a political price to pay if they choose to go down that line.
“Be sensitive to the sensibility, feelings, and effect of our actions on the reputation of our fellow legislators… but if they do some reckless action, be ready to pay the political price,” Pimentel said when he reminded his colleagues of what their action can lead to.
De Lima is currently being questioned by the House of Representatives about her alleged connection to several drug lords when she was still serving as the justice secretary.
“If Senator De Lima does not want to appear here at the House of Representatives, we will let the people, the public, judge whether that sex video is true or not,” Alvarez said in an interview because of De Lima’s refusal to attend the hearing.
Alvarez says that showing the video is not a violation against the law but is merely an “aid of legislation.” On the other hand, several people in the government also expressed their disapproval of such an action.
Pimentel said that this talk about the sex video might just be a “psywar” and thought that talking about it was a “waste of time” while Senator Panfilo Lacson and Antonio Trillanes IV think that showing the video is “highly inappropriate” and “foul”. Senator Grace Poe also expressed her opinion saying that showing the sex tape would be a violation of the very law that the Congress passed, the Republic Act No. 9995 or the Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009. She cited the law’s section 4(d) which “expressly prohibits and declares unlawful the showing of photo or video coverage or recordings of such sexual act or any similar activity through VCD/DVD, internet, cellular phones and other similar means or device.”
The House of Representatives have been pressuring De Lima through this alleged sex tape and we think that this talk has been going on far longer than it should have. We just hope that these lawmakers will be reminded that they were placed there to run the country and not just entertain the Filipino people with their debacle over a mere video tape.
Source: (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
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