There is much irony surrounding the whole circus over the “indecent” video, allegedly of Filipino teen star Andrea Brillantes, that went “viral” last week. On one hand are the justice crusaders calling people to respect the privacy of Brillantes (who, as of this writing remains tight-lipped).
Echoing the sentiment of civil society, veteran journalist Elizabeth Angsioco wrote in her Manila Standard Today column…
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…what people do in the privacy of their homes is none of other people’s business for as long as what they do is not a crime. So, instead of maligning and questioning the girl, people should go after the person/s who took the videos and/or uploaded the same on the worldwide web.
Indeed, and this is the way mature adults ought to be regarding the whole brouhaha — in a more circumspect manner applying a bit more empathy in considering the predicament Brillantes finds herself in (whether the video is that of her or not).
The trouble is, this is not how reality works — certainly not the reality of the 21st Century where powerful consumer computing products connected 24/7 to a vast global public network are within easy reach of even the poorest most ill-educated people. In real life, what ought to be is often not consistent what with what is to be. My colleague Paul Farol in a five-minute rant offers the real deal that “victims” like Brillantes need to face in today’s world order.
The reality is, you can’t stop people from talking about something once something is made public — really, it’s like stuffing worms back in a can once it has been opened. You can try and there are ways to do this effectively, if you have enough money and can mobilize a lot of people — law enforcers, techies, and publicists.
Of course, knowing this reality does not offer relief from the on-going personal trauma Brillantes and other “viral video” victims might be going through today. Add to that the simple fact that there is little hope that the perpetrators of the astoundingly callous act of uploading this video onto the Internet will ever be brought to justice — not in a country where crime is by all intents and purposes an entire way of life.
It is easy to descend into despair under the weight of immense personal setbacks such as these. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. The thing with the human condition is that what really matters in life is what you do going forward rather than what happened to you in the past. Events disappear from existence when these have passed. But the future is yet to be.
So here’s what’s on the other hand. Observe the recent rise to local mainstream fame of former Japanese adult video star Maria Ozawa who, this weekend, was a featured guest at FHM Philippines’ 100 Sexiest victory party. Ozawa, who recently is making waves in Philippine showbiz after “retiring” from the adult showbiz industry, is proof that Filipinos can see past a seedy past.
Does this mean that Brillantes should consider a career in the adult entertainment industry? Of course not. There are two points we are trying to make here:
(1) Brillantes backdropped by the rising fortunes of Ozawa in Philippine showbiz highlights the fact that Filipinos don’t really know what they are talking about when they pompously wax “morality” in their quaint public rhetoric.
(2) In the very technology that supposedly “destroyed” Brillantes lies her salvation.
Actress Maria Ozawa at the FHM Philippines 100 Sexiest bash.
(Courtesy PhilStar)
On the latter point, this is what Farol essentially says in his rant, that “if you have enough money and can mobilize a lot of people — law enforcers, techies, and publicists”, anything is possible. And this is specially true today in a world where ordinary citizens can fight Big Media’s flamethrowers with their own grassroots fire.
You just need to be smart enough to overcome your historical baggage — vilified parents, unwise words said in anger, or even viral videos, as the case may be — and draw inspiration from people who had succesfully done just that: succeed after being told they are not entitled to a shot at success. Ask Senator Bongbong Marcos, Christopher Lao, and, yes, Maria Ozawa. They may not be the sorts of role models a primitively-judgemental society like that of the Philippines’ may put up for its youth to look up to, but they certainly offer a more real way forward than the imaginary paths paved by our society’s self-anointed do-gooders.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
My concern is why many of ABiaS-CBN new & very young talents (Ella Cruz, Andrea Brilliantes, etc..) have allegedly scandalous videos -unknowingly stolen or intentionally leaked?
Does the owner/management/powerful people (politicians) link to ABiaS-CBN are profiting or exploitating them financially or sexually? Kapalit ng pag-rescue or patulong kuno nila sa mga Batang ito.
bnign0 is a maniac. Why mention a minor’s name with Ozawa? Maybe next time we should mention your children’s names once we get a copy of their scandals.
Insanity is everyone expecting you not to fall apart when you find out everything you believed in was a lie.
A few people i knew scrambled for a copy of the video itself once the news broke. NOW THERE AND THAT IS SOMETHING REALLY FUCKED UP ALREADY. the video, reported by the 200-word article from their fb newsfeed is of a 12-year old actress pleasuring herself. And their initial reaction was to fucking find a copy of it and watch it? TELL ME IF THAT ISNT SICK.
The Edge… There is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.
2Arlene you know why he mentioned maria to andrea? That same minor is already a maniac at her young age
Tama nakakaawa ang bata..sa maaagang gulang nakakadama ng di dapat at ginagawa nya sa sarili nya..di malayong bumigay ng maaaga yan..nasaan ang mga magulang.ano ang paliwanag nyo para sa anak nyo…baka nga nakakanood ng masasagwang porn sa internet ang bata.minsan masama din ang dulot ng internet o ano mang gadget.
Actually, the World Wide Web (www.com) was designed by a group of U.S. Scientists to make the U.S. government, functioning after a probable nuclear war, with the then, Soviet Union.
It went commercial; now we have these problems.
Advances in Science and Technology have its good and bad effects. It depends on how we use them.However, our civilization must advance…
Ang pinakamainam lumayo muna si andrea .itigil ang pag aartista at punta muna siya amerika..bakit kasi natututo ang mga bata ng ganito..siguro kulang sa guidance ng magulang si andrea..di nila siguro alam na nakakanood ng mga porn sa internet ang bata..nakakaawa. sa murang kaisipan nilason ng malaswang pangyayari sa buhay nya..di natin alam kung ano ang reaksyon ng mga magulang.isa lang ang sasabihin. Hindi sa andrea yon ..alam naman natin na talaga si andrea yon…
SHE’S NOT A TEEN ACTRESS. SHE’S A CHILD ACTRESS WHO JUST TURNED 12 LAST MARCH 2015 WHICH MEANS SHE WAS ONLY 11 YEARS OLD 4 MONTHS AGO. STOP CALLING HER A “TEEN ACTRESS” TO MAKE YOURSELF FEEL BETTER AFTER YOU WATCHED CHILD PORNOGRAPHY. STOP MENTIONING HER NAME. YOU SICK PERVERT.
If someone here is a ‘sick pervert’, it’s YOU, son. And your lack of intelligence is showing.
EVERYONE WHO WATCHED THE VIDEO IS A SICK PERVERT WHO WILLINGLY ACCESSED A FORM OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY. YOU CANNOT DENY THAT FACT.
AND THIS ARTICLE IS DOING JUST AS MUCH DAMAGE AS THAT VIDEO. BY MENTIONING HER NAME AND PUBLISHING HER PHOTO IN THIS ARTICLE YOU ARE VIOLATING HER RIGHT TO BE PROTECTED AS A CHILD AND AS A VICTIM.
Yeah as a matter of fact, I mentioned the matter of a victim’s legal rights in a previous article also on the subject of Andrea Brillantes, specifically here…
Read the rest of the article here.
Think no filth, see no porn.
SINCE YOUR MORAL JUDGEMENT IS QUESTIONABLE I HOPE YOU AT LEAST ABIDE BY THE LAW BECAUSE THAT IS CHILD PORNOGRAPHY ACCORDING TO THE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9775:
“Child pornography” refers to any representation, whether visual, audio, or written combination thereof, by electronic, mechanical, digital, optical, magnetic or any other means, of child engaged or involved in real or simulated explicit sexual activities.
“Explicit Sexual Activity” includes actual or simulated –
(1) As to form:
(i) sexual intercourse or lascivious act
(2) bestiality;
(3) masturbation;
What do you call someone who watches you in your private moments? They used to be called a pervert, but now they’re called an ABS-CBN talent agent.
“…applying a bit more empathy in considering the predicament Brillantes finds herself in (whether the video is that of her or not).”
This cannot be more spot on. BUT! Again, we are living in a country where people are okay with scantily-clad dancers on noon-time shows being watched by the whole family and where the RH Law is being shunned (still) like a plague because it’s against life/church.
So, I’m waiting for the first person to throw stones at the poor kid if (emphasis on IF) it turned out that it was really her on the video.
Oh, actually, someone up there already did. Manyak daw ang bata at a young age. Wow~
Her knowledge about such things shouldn’t be use against her. It really depends on who is seeing it, in my point of view, she is exploring her body nothing more, nothing less. The malice is in the eye of those who view it. Let us see it in a clinical view, it is better that way than having sex at the young age, like most of the hidden things happening that will become obvious when we see someone so young is pregnant. She could use her “advance” knowledge in the future, she will not be fooled by men who will just want her for that thing, men that could only fool innocent girls who never talk sex at home. And it is good for her to discover how to achieve orgasm that sometimes men couldn’t give. And besides masturbating doesn’t make you a sex maniac, how i wish those criminals who rape and killed their victims just masturbated rather than raping and kill them afterwards. I’m just an open minded woman, i view sex as something that could only be done by two people who love each other, see i know a lot about sex but i don’t just jump on to someone and ask for sex. There is a difference between a maniac and knowledgable about these things