'Hayden cam' case: Katrina Halili arrives at Senate for sex scandal probe

MANILA, Philippines - Embattled sexy actress Katrina Halili arrived at the Philippine Senate in Manila as a resource person for the inquiry into the so-called "Hayden cam" video sex scandal. Halili, who was accompanied by counsels Marlito Tan and Raymund Palad, was taken by the Senate sergeant-at-arms to the Padilla room, which serves as the holding area for the actress. The hearing was set to begin at 1 p.m., Thursday. Senator Ma. Ana Consuelo 'Jamby' Madrigal, chairman of the Senate committee on youth, women, and family relations, said Halili's statements before the Senate would be aired publicly while that of Dr. Hayden Kho Jr would be made through a separate executive session. Madrigal's panel and the Senate committee on public information and mass media, chaired by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano will conduct the investigation. Kho's legal counsel had earlier confirmed that his client would arrive for the Senate hearing. Kho admitted videotaping his sexual acts with Halili in 2007 at an undisclosed hotel. The video has since spread on the Internet. The Senate provided two rooms for the hearing, which is now full of people - resource persons and observers chattering about the video sex scandal. Aside from Kho, to be accompanied by lawyers Lorna Kapunan and Irene Joy Besido-Garcia, those who confirmed attendance in the probe were, lawyer Adel Tamano to represent Dr Victoria Belo; lawyer Noel Malaya to represent Lolit Solis. Businessman Erik Johnston Chua, accused of disseminating the videos and posting it on the Internet; and Maricar Reyes, allegedly one of the women seen in the video, did not confirm their presence to the probe. Others expected to attend the inquiry are officials from the Department of the Social Welfare and Development; Commission on Human Rights; Commission on Information and Communication Technology; Philippine National Police; National Bureau of Investigation; Cindy Dollente-Ang, president of Philippine Alliance against Pornography; Optical Media Board and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. The Senate investigation stemmed from the privilege speech of Senator Ramon Revilla Jr entitled “A Doctor’s Perversity" where he scored Kho for allegedly recording her sexual activities with her girlfriends without their consent and posting the videos on the Internet. Kho had already apologized to those affected by his collection of sex videos but maintained that he had nothing to do with the spread of the recordings on the Internet. Halili, for her part, had refused to accept Kho's apology, saying that the celebrity doctor should suffer the consequences of his actions. The actress had also sought the revocation of Kho's medical license. - AMITA O. LEGASPI, MARK JOSEPH H. UBALDE, GMANews.TV