The Philippine National Police is turning to Facebook for help in catching the people who leaked online the sex videos of TV personality Paolo Bediones (pictured). INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–The Philippine National Police (PNP) is turning to Facebook for help in catching the people who leaked online the sex videos of TV personality Paolo Bediones.
In particular, the Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) said it would coordinate with administrators of the popular social media website in tracking down the perpetrators.
“Allegedly, the videos were first uploaded through Facebook. So we are in the process of formally requesting details from them,” PNP-ACG spokesperson Senior Insp. Joana Fabro said in an interview.
Fabro explained that they would formally request for information from the website’s administrator in the United States and its regional counterpart in Singapore on whose accounts the videos were uploaded.
The PNP-ACG would also ask for the IP addresses used by the culprits—data that could be used to identify and track them down with the help of local service providers.
“We are going to get the IP addresses and take it from there. It’s a very long technical process of investigating and we ask for the patience of the parties concerned,” Fabro said.
Over the weekend, another sex video of the TV5 news anchor and the same woman was uploaded on several websites. It was at least 16 minutes long compared to the first one that surfaced last month and ran for around six minutes.
Fabro, however, clarified that the latest upload was actually the full version of the sex video which, according to Bediones, was taken five years ago.
The PNP-ACG has yet to get more information from the TV host who was unable to turn over the laptop computer that contained the video.
Bediones earlier told investigators that he had the laptop repaired by a technician in Quezon City. Several months later, he received letters from someone who threatened to release the video unless the sender heard from the news anchor. One of the letters contained a cell phone number.
Chief Insp. Jay Guillermo, head of the ACG’s intelligence and investigation unit, said that although they had no physical evidence, they already had some leads. He did not elaborate.