Hayden Kho – Katrina Halili sex video and the Anti-Pornography Act of 2007

Currently circulating around the internet is the sex video of actress Katrina Halili and Dr. Hayden Kho and several other sex videos of Kho and other women.

(Read also: ‘Sex perverts’ download, watch Katrina Halili sex video)

Yesterday Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr. had a Privilege Speech at the Senate condemning Kho for the videos made supposedly without the women’s consent. He also called senators to pass his Senate Bill No. 12 or the Anti-Pornography Act of 2007.

Still pending two (2) years after Sen. Revilla introduced it to the Senate, the Anti-Pornography Act of 2007 seeks to “protect all individuals from proliferation of pornographic materials and to curb nefarious activities involving pornography.”

What is Pornography?

The bill defines pornography as “any representation, through publication, exhibition, cinematography, indecent shows, information technology by whatever means, of a person (whether minor or adult) engaged in real or simulated explicit sexual activities or any other representation of the sexual parts of a person for primarily sexual purpose that is intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feeling.”

What are examples of “explicit sexual activities”?

Any real or simulated:

• Sexual intercourse, including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex;
• Bestiality or sexual intercourse including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, between humans and animals;
• Masturbation with or without the use of foreign objects;
• Sadistic or masochistic abuse in a sexual context;
• Lascivious exhibition of the genitals, breast, or public area of any persons

What are the Prohibited Acts under the bill?

If approved, the bill would make any of the following acts unlawful:

• 1) Publication, broadcast, or exhibition, of Pornographic Materials
• 2) Soliciting, selling or giving away any pornographic material.
• 3) Destroying or concealing the effects or instruments of the body of the crimes, in order to prevent its discovery.
• 4) Possessions of any pornographic materials as defined in this act, with intent to publish, broadcast or exhibit.
• 5) Any visual or audio that advocates or encourages unlawful sexual  activity.
• 6) Produce any effects and issues of pornography.
• 7) Assist anyone in promoting pornography
• 8) Knowingly sell, lend, distribute or otherwise provide access to any person
• 9) Representation of information, data or image of such pornographic  materials
• 10) Possession of lewd photographs, sex stories, and other similar articles in all forms of media regardless of purpose or intent
• 11) Procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of Pornography or pornographic performances
• 12) Holding any public lectures or organization of public performance with pornographic content
• 13) Enticement of any person under the age of 18 to allow him or herself to be depicted as part of a commercial production of moving or still pictures with a sexual content of any person under 18 or production itself of such material.

Complete text of the bill and explanation of the fines and penalties against violators are here.

What does the bill mean to the average Filipino?

It means some of the things we are doing now may be unlawful once this bill is approved. For example:

• Buying FHM, Playboy, UNO and similar magazines. This falls under Prohibited Act #10 which disallows anyone from possessing lewd content in whatever form – photos, magazines, computer files, etc. In the first place, these magazines probably won’t be allowed anymore because under Prohibited Act #1, such publication of pornographic materials is unlawful.
• Posting on blogs of nude or naked pictures of males or females. Several local blogs focus on sexy, sometimes bordering on nude, photographs of male and female celebrities. Under Prohibited Act #8, providing other people access to these lewd material may be unlawful.
• Uploading to RapidShare or a similar site any sex video, whether with or without the consent of the parties. This also falls under Prohibited Act #8.
• Downloading and storing sex videos or naked pictures on your PC. This is unlawful under Prohibited Act #10. If you intend to share it to other people or post it on the Internet, you will also be guilty of Prohibited Act #4.

The proliferation of sex videos, most recently the Katrina Halili – Hayden Kho scandal, revives the debate about pornography in the Philippines.

Is the Anti-Pornography Act of 2007 proposed by Sen. Revilla a step forward that will help curb malicious acts in the society or a step backward towards ultra conservatism and hypocrisy?

You tell us.

Related reading:

• Is this Rufa Mae Quinto on the Hayden Kho sex scandal video?
• DVD sex video ’scandal’: Rufa Mae Quinto, Vicki Belo, Hayden Kho
• ‘Sex perverts’ download, watch Katrina Halili, Maricar Reyes sex video
• Filipinos more interested in “sex” than “money”
• Nude photos of Vanessa Hudgens a big hit on the internet
• Hayden Kho – Katrina Halili sex video and the Anti-Pornography Act of 2007