BACK in August of 2018 and just this January of this year, actor/singer Janno Gibbs photo showing his face and his private part in another photo went viral on social media. Recently, it was a video and this time involving 67-year old Jim Paredes that leaked and now made a talk of the town.
Jim Paredes is an icon. He is one of the trio Original Pilipino Music singers Apo Hiking Society along with Danny Javier and Buboy Garovillo whose songs were made immortal. Paredes is an activist and a popular figure during the Edsa revolution way back 1986. He wrote the song “Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo,” a song that became an anthem after the peaceful uprising.
Paredes prior to his video scandal has this wholesome personality. For many, he is a very professional person who is known for the songs he wrote and sung by the trio. He has this clean image that no one had even an iota of idea that he can make such act on video.
The act is too vulgar. A friend showed me a clip of the video, with smileys actually covering what needs to be covered. However, Paredes can be seen in the video doing self-gratification while seemingly talking to someone on his phone. A phone sex conversation seems to be happening.
Initially Paredes said that the video a “fake” until it went viral and the “star” admitted the same backed-up by his apology. It seemed that he was pushed to the wall and cannot go elsewhere.
Paredes is a serious critic of President Rodrigo Duterte. The former can even be seen on streets arguing with pro-Duterte supporters. He called the President as “bastos” and “manyak.” The said terms seems to be ricocheting to him now.
Meanwhile, pro-Duterte groups and individuals took the opportunity to get even with Paredes by bashing him on the internet. They are now asking him who is the “bastos” now after the spread of the said video. It’s very damaging of course to Paredes.
Paredes cannot blame anyone for his present predicament except himself. His age dictates decency and yet he had himself incriminated with his “self-service.” He cannot say that his privacy was violated by other people. It was himself who violated his own privacy.
With the spread of the video, the Department of Information and Communication Technology has warned the public that sharers of the said video can be held liable for violations of the Cybercrime Prevention Act. The warning is good but implementing such law on Paredes' case is a shot to the moon.
The video went viral and nobody can stop it from spreading. Paredes cannot help himself except to wait for the scandal die a natural death. His best shot to survive his scandal is to keep mum and wait.
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