Sex photo scandals

A former beauty queen in a popular city in Western Visayas is certainly not smiling over the spread of sexually explicit photos of her and her boyfriend. The photos were stored inside the boyfriend’s cell, which was allegedly stolen while he was sleeping inside his car. The story about the photos came out later in a local paper, with copies of the photos soon selling like hotcakes in the downtown area and colleges and universities in the city. Sources said the beauty, who is the daughter of a respected couple and was a runner-up in a nationwide pageant a few years ago, is set to file charges against people who have been circulating the photos. Police are also investigating the identity of the cellphone buyer who will be charged for violating the Anti-fencing Law. Nude photos of Chx Alcala, an evicted contestant of the reality show Pinoy Big Brother, also started circulating several weeks ago. Alcala, who had admitted being the person in the compromising poses, said she lost her cellphone in a taxi, but expressed astonishment because the unit was supposedly encrypted and thus could not be accessed. In this high tech world today, it seems that there is nothing that could stand in the way of hackers. The plight of the beauty queen and the Pinoy Big Brother contestant should be a lesson to all women out there — never store compromising photos in your cell. Or better yet, don’t have such photos taken at all.

In sad form

A Spybiz reader is wondering why the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website does not have downloadable application forms for registering a corporation or partnership. Other government agencies have important forms available for downloading in the website for free. SEC applicants however have to pay P320 for the application forms, and have to go through the tedious process of manually typing the information on the form. These forms have reportedly been produced by the SEC Credit Union Inc. for many years, and allegedly generates extra income for the Credit Union. This could probably account for the non-availability of the forms in the SEC website.

Response to hsv-x1 joint venture

Australian expat Michael Payne happily wrote Spybiz to say that the US "mystery ship" HSV-X1 is one of the three ships currently being leased by the US Military/Navy from Incat Australia, the company that designs, develops and builds these wave-piercing catamarans. Payne adds that Incat is based in Hobart, Tasmania and is a leader in marine technology, building catamaran vessels not only for commercial use but also as military hardware. In fact, the Australian Navy engaged an HSV vessel to provide logistical support for Australian troops in East Timor during the chaos that ensued when the Indonesians left. Aside from the Joint Venture HSV, the Americans are also leasing TSV and HSV-2 for other areas in the world.

Carless and unhappy

A customer is unhappy over his purchase from the Tarlac City dealer of a brand new car touted as THE most fuel-efficient in the world today. Even while at the dealer, he already noticed the car’s skewed rear emblem but he didn’t give it much thought and simply had it fixed right there and then. Other more serious problems surfaced a few days later, like the off-center steering wheel, water entering through the roof and soaking the rear seat, creaking and ticking noises from the right rear passenger step board, bubbles on the windshield tint, non-functional cigarette lighter port and brake lines improperly clipped to the body. The customer immediately brought it back to the dealer demanding a replacement, but he was given the usual line that the company policy is not to replace but only repair. The repairs only worsened the defects, so now the reader is saddled with a car he could not use because aside from the fact that it is always raining, he is afraid to risk driving around the city in a car whose steering wheel veers at a very awkward right angle. Numerous letters and documents have been sent to the manufacturing company president, but his efforts seem to be in vain. Now he couldn’t help but wonder if he would have been better off with another car manufacturer. Or maybe the fact that the car model he bought was a CKD (completely knocked down) unit assembled in the Philippines, not a CBU (completely built up) unit from another country is a big part of the problem.

Spy tidbiz: New ambassador to the US?

Our Diplomatic Eye-Spy reported that former Ambassador to the UK Cesar Bautista is being groomed to replace current Ambassador to Washington Albert del Rosario, who has signified his intention to go back to private life. But there seems to be a lot of resistance coming from top officials of the DFA because the appointment is once again being pushed by the Meddler on the Roof.

* * *

Join our ring of Eye-Spies by sending your intelligence information, complaints, pictures, and comments to [email protected].

All information will be strictly confidential.