SINO BA SI KATRINA AT SI HAYDEN?

I had to ask, who’s Katrina and who’s Hayden?

I have heard of Katrina Halili, of Vicky Belo, but never of Hayden Kho. I google their names and Wikipedia says that Katrina Halili is “a Filipina actress, and a commercial model.” That “she made her screen debut via Starstruck, but did not gain popularity until playing the antagonist roles in Darna, Majika, Atlantika and Marimar and becoming the protagonist in One Night Only and Magdusa Ka.” Unfortunately, or fortunately, I never saw any of those films. A blog said that Hayden Kho “joined Bodyshots 2000…" that “He modeled for a while, then he stopped to pursue medical school in UST.” There’s a quote from Kho himself, “when asked, ‘How would you describe yourself in five words to make us fall in love with you?’ he answered, ‘Tall, handsome, handsome, cute, and… it’s up to you to find out!’” Sure, Mr. Kho, I’ll take your word for it. And Googling Vicky Belo brought me to her website which describes her as the “Ambassadress of Beauty” and the medical director of Belo Medical Group.

Someone offered me the following information: “Si Hayden Kho, isang doktor ng isang cosmetic surgery clinic (Belo Medical Group) na pag-aari ni Dr.Vicky Belo na naging kasintahan nya. Naghiwalay sila Hayden at Vicky ng mapabalitang may namumuong relasyon si Katrina Halili at Hayden Kho na parehong modelo ng nasabing clinic...”

I open my email and find links to some videos online. I click on a couple and see this: A woman clad in a skimpy bikini dancing in front of what I believe was a mirror. Moments later a man joins her, singing along and gyrating to Wham’s “Careless Whisper” (ahhh, the irony). Then at one point, the woman waves to her unseen audience (towards the camera) and goes on dancing. I heard the succeeding videos were even worse, meaning more explicit. In one report, Ms. Halili said that “Gusto kong lumaban kasi ayoko ng maulit ang mga ganitong pangyayari kasi sobrang binaboy kami d’on sa video. Sobrang pambababoy ang ginawa sa amin ni [doctor] Hayden kaya dapat magbayad siya.” Did I mention that at one point in the video she as seen waving at her unseen audience? Anyway.

Still I ask, “sino si Katrina at si Hayden?”

As expected, the Honorables are all over the place: the Palace pledges to “go hard” on Kho; that funny Secretary of Justice says that Kho may be jailed for six years for his actions; “The Honorable” Bong Revilla gave an emotional privilege speech on the matter, demanding the Kho’s medical license be revoked; the National Bureau of Investigation aims to get to the bottom of the issue. Well, with all the brouhaha surrounding this issue, the country’s already at the bottom of a lot of things.

Amazing, nah, disgusting, that the government can take its sweet time to act on the killing of journalists, the forced disappearance of activists, the automation of next year’s election is still uncertain, but has several of its branches up and about on this issue in the blink of an eye, or the click of the mouse. Executive Secretary Ermita was quoted as saying that the video “affects the morals of society.” Sure, so do pardoning a child molester and cheating during elections and stealing from the government - and way much more than this stupid video does.

There’s a bigger scandal here. And it’s not the Halili-Kho video.

Another person asked me in response to my question, sino si Katrina at si Hayden? – “Ha? Hindi ka ba taga-‘pinas?”

Taga-Pilipinas po ako, and during times like this, unfortunately, regrettably.