Gabriela solon: Showing alleged De Lima sex video illegal

House Speaker Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez. CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA

A solon from the militant women’s party-list group Gabriela denounced the proposal of Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez to show the alleged sex video of Senator Leila De Lima in the congressional inquiry into the proliferation of drugs at the Bilibid.

READ: Alvarez: Nothing wrong if De Lima ‘sex video’ shown in probe

In a statement on Thursday, Gabriela Rep. Emmi De Jesus said Republic Act 9995 or the Anti-Voyeurism Law penalizes acts that aim to annihilate any person’s honor, dignity and integrity.

De Jesus said the law punishes the act of broadcasting, through any device, photos, videos or recordings of sexual acts or any similar activities of a person except for the purpose of suppressing or prosecuting the crime of photo or video voyeurism and upon court order.

READ: Showing of De Lima sex videos is illegal, Poe warns House 

“No man, woman or child, no matter how justified the case is presented for such proposals, deserve to be subjected to the prospect of one’s private affairs exposed,” De Jesus said.

De Jesus added that showing the alleged sex tape of De Lima would only muddle the investigation into her alleged involvement in the Bilibid drug trade when she was still justice secretary.

“Showing of the alleged video muddles the issues central to the investigations into the links between government officials and the drug trade. Congressional hearings should focus its probe on the salient pieces of evidence that will point to the involvement of drug lords and government officials in the illegal drug trade with respect to existing law,” De Jesus said.

Gabriela is a member of the majority bloc in Congress, which voted for the speakership of Alvarez, a key ally of President Rodrigo Duterte.

On Wednesday, Speaker Alvarez said the showing the video may establish the illicit relationship between De Lima and her former driver Ronnie Dayan, who inmates alleged collected drug money for De Lima at the Bilibid.

READ: NBI exec claims he gave P10M ‘drug quota’ to De Lima | 1st witness testifies De Lima got millions from drug lord 

“Ipapalabas natin hindi dahil gusto natin panoorin. I-establish lang yung katotohanan kung may relasyon o wala. Kasi ang sinasabing walang relasyon, eh paano mo ipo-prove kung may relasyon o wala. Ito eh, isa itong material para magpatunay kung may relasyon o wala,” Alvarez said.

(We will show the video not because we want to watch it. We will just establish the truth whether there’s a relationship or not. Even if they say there’s no relationship, how could we prove whether its true. This is a material that could prove whether there is a relationship or not.) CDG

READ: Aguirre: DOJ may present in court alleged De Lima sex videos | Duterte: De Lima’s ‘sexcapades’ led her to crime, drug pay-offs