Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel II said on Tuesday that the alleged sex tape of Senator Leila de Lima does not exist.
“Actually, I believe that there is no video. There is no actual video. Some have shown me a video but it does not involve any member of the Senate. It is a sex video but it does involve any member of the Senate,” Pimentel said during the plenary session.
Pimentel is President Rodrigo Duterte’s party-mate in PDP-LABAN and a close ally.
Pimentel also said that that House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has given his word that no sex video will be shown during the congressional hearing into the proliferation of the drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison. Earlier, Alvarez said that he saw nothing wrong with playing de Lima’s alleged sex video during the Inquiry to prove that she is connected to her alleged lover and drug money bagman, Ronnie Dayan.
Senator Risa Hontiveros spoke up on the issue, saying that if lawmakers remain silent as other lawmakers “perpetrate this indignity” against de Lima, it meant choosing vulgarity over civility, misogyny over basic respect and decency. She then asked who among the lady senators will likely be next to be accused of having a fake sex video.
All lady senators – Hontiveros, Grace Poe, Cynthia Villar, Nancy Binay, Loren Legarda, signed a Senate resolution condemning the plan of the House of Representatives to show the alleged video. They argued that showing the video will violate the Anti-Photo or Video Voyeurism Act of 2009 and the Anti Wiretapping Law. They added that it will also violate “inter-parliamentary courtesy, given that de Lima is a sitting senator and it will be considered as “blow” to uplift the dignity of a woman, calling it a form of “slut-shaming.”
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Duterte insisted the video exists
Earlier, Duterte denied wanting de Lima when the lady senator asked if he is interested in her for “obsessing” over her.
“Susmaryosep. Alam mo every time I view the video, I lose my appetite. Nawawala ang gana ko sa kanya,” Duterte said, while referring to de Lima’s supposed sex video.
Duterte also insisted that the tape does exist. “Lumalabas na lahat e, pati yung kalokohan niya sa kama. Hindi Photoshop yan, sinadya talaga ng lalake yan at pumayag yan.”
In another instance, during his visit to the alleged shabu lab in Arayat, Pampanga, Duterte also made a reference to the video.
“The reason why I don’t anymore read articles on de Lima is because ever since napanood ko yung classic na x-rated na de Lima vs driver, sa totoo lang ang tiyan ko o lumiit… Nawalan na ako ganang kumain. I lost my appetite. Parang may nakita akong baboy don na nag untol untol sa…”
Untol-untol is “bouncing” in English, “tumatalbog-talbog” in Tagalog.
Aguirre said they are not in possession of any video
Backtracking from his earlier threats about showing de Lima’s alleged sex tape during the House inquiry, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said that they are not going to present the video.
“No, we are not going to present anything about [the sex video]… We are just going to present witnesses but we are not in possession of any video,” Aguirre said on Tuesday.
Earlier, Aguirre told the media that government would be forced to present all three videos of de Lima in court if she refused to admit being intimately involved with Dayan, even after de Lima and other lawmakers warned him that it is against the law.
If Aguirre does not have possession of the video, what were his earlier threats based on then? Were they empty threats after all?
When they planned to show the sex videos in Congress, were they also planning to disregard the law to prove their case?
Sources: (gmanetwork.com, cebudavao.com)
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