The Construct

It has been more than a month since those Hayden Kho scandal videos rose into national consciousness, thanks mostly to Katrina Halili crying foul. A few days since Flesh Asia Daily author JB Lazarte (writing under nom de plume “Mike Changco”) gave his full disclosure on the matter after having been picked up by the NBI for allegedly being the first one to distribute the videos.

I’m no lawyer or a student of law. For a legal discussion, I’d point you to Jester’s post. I’d rather stick to what I know and that’s critical discourse. And here’s how I view it.

All of these issues are linked together by the web of politics. Personally, I find the issue a waste of media time and space and the inquiry, a waste of my taxpayer pesos. Pseudo-moralist politicos seeking terms for re-election have rode on the juiciest of topics. What does drive a Filipino more than sex? Sex in show business? The better. Pity Hayden Kho didn’t get to sleep with a PBA player since that would have hit the trifecta.

So why punish the herald? The NBI acts as if they’ve done the nation a service by bringing Lazarte in. And that they are now using high-tech ways to catch cyber-criminals. But how about putting down the drug lords, gun lords, and solving high-profile crimes? It’s because the person who’s crying is FHM’s Sexiest for two years in a row and is a mainstay in several prime time TV shows. Because of a sex scandal. Is there anything more high-profile than that?

Come on, NBI. The most I’ve seen you do is harass innocent people filing for NBI clearances to get jobs and pay taxes to help pay your salaries. Now you’re squeezing Lazarte for what is a flimsy at best. (Unless, of course, politicians do their usual magic.) Will you give the same attention to all the other Filipinas exploited far worse here and elsewhere? How about the mail-to-order bride websites? Don’t they deserve a bit of your online attention as well? How about solving the last round of bombings in Quezon City or down south? Or bringing down crime lords for once. Just once. Then maybe we can all say that our tax pesos are put to better use.

So how should Lazarte position FAD again? As an adult-oriented blog site? Now that’s how you use semantics to your advantage. Quite honestly, Lazarte has got to be one of the most creative bloggers out there today. Rightfully so. It takes real talent to be included in the Likhaan Anthology and it shows on his blog. His writing pokes fun at Filipino sexuality. It’s appeal to the male of the species, however, can draw the ire of feminists. Still, I know many females who enjoy FAD.

This whole sex scandal business has been blown way out of proportion. Still thinking that all Filipinas should keep their kings at the back row? Face it. Singit (or should I say puke) is the new sakong. Surely this comment will draw the ire of moralists but it just makes one wonder whether or not the morality police can change any of that back to “the good old days” when everyone was “decent.”

This is just one of the times when one will definitely think that democracy has failed him. Failed us. From whom does the government think they’re protecting us. Criminals? Terrorists? Ourselves? There exists a fear in the normal person without wealth and connections. Most of the time, we feel that we need protection from those who should be protecting us.

Many believe that the Internet is the last domain of free speech. That the Philippine blogosphere is our own version of Hyde Park since our own politicians have deemed it necessary to police our right to free speech on actual Philippine soil. No editorial influence. No permits. Just a person, a message, and a public to engage.

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