Chua a no-show; OMB closes in on sex video pirate

MANILA, Philippines – A computer engineer suspected of uploading the sex video of Dr. Hayden Kho and actress Katrina Halili on the Internet again ignored a summons from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) yesterday.

Eric Johnston Chua was a no-show at the NBI, and no lawyer appeared to represent him either.

In a text message to television station GMA-7, Chua denied disseminating the sex video for sale.

“I have no participation in the uploading and attempt to sell the Hayden Kho Jr. sex video,” he said.

“All allegations related thereto are false, and will be dealt with by my lawyers in the appropriate forum and at a proper time.”

Meanwhile, the Optical Media Board has gained a lead on the identity of the person who reproduced and spread the sex video.

The videos were reproduced with the use of computers through the process known as “burning,” not by replicating machines, according to the OMB.

Speaking to The STAR yesterday, lawyer Cyrus Valenzuela, OMB legal division chief, said the suspect, whom he did not identify, is “notorious in the piracy circle” in Metro Manila.

“We already have a lead on the person allegedly responsible for the reproduction of the video,” he said. “It’s a verified and solid lead.”

The OMB is interested to know how the sex video was reproduced and found its way to the streets, he added.

Valenzuela said Chua, whose name was earlier brought up by OMB chairman Edu Manzano, might or might not have been involved in the actual reproduction and dissemination of the sex videos.

Even before Halili went to seek their help, the OMB had already started its investigation on the matter after hearing reports about the videos, he added.

Valenzuela said “pressing” involves replication by big machines, while “burning” is done with the use of a computer.

“We found out that the videos were reproduced using a CD writer through what is being referred to as burning, which can be done even just inside a room,” he said.

NBI Assistant Regional Director Vicente de Guzman III, Anti-Fraud and Computer Crimes Division chief, said Chua also failed to honor an NBI subpoena the other day.

Reporters waited at the office of De Guzman until after 5 p.m. yesterday but Chua did not show up.

De Guzman said the NBI would like to question Chua, an engineer and computer expert, on how the sex video got on the Internet.

“We would focus both on the statements of all parties concerned as well as the technical aspects like the identification of the person or persons responsible for the initial and subsequent upload of the sex videos and other things,” he said.

The NBI will issue a third subpoena for Chua to appear tomorrow, De Guzman said.

Also expected to appear at the NBI on Wednesday are Dr. Vicki Belo and Kho, who are set to file their affidavits.

The NBI is also checking whether a cyber crime had been committed when the Katrina-Hayden sex video was uploaded on the Internet.

On Thursday, the Senate will investigate the scandal to hasten the passage of bills seeking to ban pornography from the Internet and to stop the proliferation of pirated DVDs.

Invited to the hearing are Kho, Belo and Halili, along with Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral, Commission on Human Rights chairman Leila de Lima, Commission on Information and Communication Technology chairman Rey Anthony Chua, Philippine National Police chief Director General Jesus Verzosa, National Bureau of Investigation Director Nestor Mantaring and Philippine Alliance Against Pornography president Cindy Dollente-Ang.

Sen. Jamby Madrigal, Senate committee on youth, women and family relations chairman, will lead the inquiry in aid of legislation, along with Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, committee on public information and mass media chairman.

Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr., whose privilege speech “A Doctor’s Perversity” was the basis of the investigation, said the senators would like to pass bills to address the problem of sex videos as soon as possible.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said Kho “is guilty as charged” because he admitted secretly filming his sexual trysts with various women.

Santiago said Kho’s admissions show that he has a “pornographic frame of mind.”

Kho would not be able to escape responsibility because he did not report the loss of the sex videos to the police, she added.

Santiago said Kho’s failure to report the theft of the sex videos shows his guilt.

“He was guilty so he did not say anything,” she said.

“He does not at all disprove the accusations against him.”

Kho’s appeals for clemency should only be decided by a trial court judge, Santiago said. 

Hayden, Katrina popular in YouTube

In Angeles City, a 39-second footage of the controversial video of movie actress Katrina Halili and Dr. Hayden Kho has consistently been among the most viewed on the popular website YouTube.com.

The rating of the Katrina-Hayden video has been changing almost by the minute, as the website updates in real time the number of actual viewers accessing each video sent to it by people worldwide.

Last Sunday morning, the Katrina-Hayden video was in the top 20, but by 10:50 a.m. yesterday, it slid down to 67th with 43,740 hits.

Topping the ratings was a video titled “Interactive torture game,” a series of videos by a young man named Shane Dawson, with 444,154 hits.

Ten minutes later, however, the Halili-Hayden video shot up to 41th in the most-viewed rank, with 44,656 hits.

The actual 39-second footage shows only the portion of Halili in bikini dancing to some music, but accessing it unfolds 18 “related videos” that reveal footage of the continuation of the dancing segment, as well as footage from television news about the controversial video.

One supposedly related video titled in the beginning as “Hayden Kho and Vicki Belo” and in the end as “Salamat Doc” shows still photos of a man and a woman apparently in a motel room, but their faces are not recognizable.

The video eventually shifts for the most part to photos of fruits, vegetables, and plants uncannily shaped like male and female sex organs, until the ending showing the photo of the controversial duo together.

The Katrina-Hayden video, however, was not in the list of YouTube’s most popular, at least as of 11:30 a.m. yesterday.

Other Filipinos, however, have made it to YouTube.com in a more favorable light.

They include Charice Pempengco whose singing in YouTube aroused the interest of Oprah who helped make her an international star.

Among the most well known YouTube videos are those of Christine Gambito, a Filipino-American whose HappySlip series remains a favorite worldwide. In March 2007, her video Mixed Nuts won second place in the YouTube Video Awards for Best Comedy.

In May of the same year, she became one of the first users accepted into YouTube’s revenue sharing program.

Singer Arnel Pineda also did the Philippines proud when his talent was brought to worldwide attention through YouTube, as did Madonna Decena who was among the finalists in the Britain’s Got Talent last year.

Television host Edu Manzano’s “papaya dance” also made it to YouTube and caught some following in the US.

Of course, there is also the still unforgotten “Thriller dance exercise” of the inmates of Cebu jail, a video made by Byron Garcia, brother of Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia. – With Aurea Calica, Jose Rodel Clapano, Reinir Padua, Ding Cervantes