Paolo Bediones seeks PNP help vs leaker of sex video

PAOLO Bediones. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—TV star Paolo Bediones has asked the Philippine National Police to hunt down the person who leaked a six-minute sex video involving the celebrity and a woman, as well as the source of messages threatening him with blackmail using the clip.

One of the suspects is a technician in Quezon City who repaired Bediones’ laptop that contained the video, the police said.

Chief Inspector Jay Guillermo, investigation and intelligence section chief of PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group, said the TV5 host and news anchor went to the ACG office in Camp Crame on Thursday afternoon to report about the video and the two letters he received from an anonymous sender making the threat.

“Our probers are checking the links of the uploaded videos on the Internet to trace the ones who uploaded it and make them liable for their acts,” Guillermo said Friday. “We told him to file a case so we can formally investigate and trace the uploaders of the video and make them liable under (a) special law.”

The official was referring to the Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009 (Republic Act 9995), which he said Bediones can cite in a formal complaint.

Quoting Bediones’ initial statement to the PNP, Guillermo said the private video was five years old and was stored in the TV host’s laptop.

The laptop later broke down and was sent for repairs to a technician in Quezon City, whose name was withheld as the person would now face questioning, Guillermo said.

Three months after it was repaired, Bediones received a letter at his TV5 office from someone claiming to have copies of “your sex videos.” This was followed by another letter making a similar threat.

“He ignored (the letters) thinking that the matter will just die down. Then the videos were uploaded and this happened,” Guillermo said.

Bediones posted a photo of one of the letters on his Instagram account on Thursday, shortly after his meeting with PNP-ACG officials.

The letter read: “Hawak ko ngayon ang mga sex videos mo. Madali naman akong kausap! Kung ayaw mong lumabas ito sa publiko, tawagan mo ako. Antayin ko ang tawag mo!  Wag mo patagalin, mainipin ako.” (I have your sex videos right now. I’m easy to deal with. If you don’t want this to go public, call me. I’ll wait for your call. Hurry up, I easily get impatient.)

The letter also contained a cell phone number.

Guillermo said he asked Bediones to be patient since the investigation might take long. “He said he will cooperate with us and provide all the information that he can.”

“He really wants those who uploaded this video punished. It was a private matter,” Guillermo added.

Under the 2009 law, uploading a sex video is punishable with a prison term of three to seven years or a fine of P100,000 to P500,000.

Also on Friday, the Commission on Human Rights warned the public not to upload or distribute the sex video—and alert authorities about the people who do.

“As the punishable acts in RA 9995 are a public crime, we encourage those who have knowledge of such unlawful acts to report such incidents to the CHR or to law enforcers,” CHR Commissioner Jose Manuel Mamauag said in a statement.