Katrina Halili partners with Gabriela in counseling victims of abuse

source: mb.com.ph

MANILA, Phillipines – Actress Katrina Halili is in good spirits now that she has moved on from heartaches caused by the controversy surrounding the sex video scandal that had her in the news for some time.

Halili says she doesn’t worry much about that part of her past matter anymore, opting to focus instead on her family, her career---and people who knows exactly what she's gone through.

According to an article on PEP, the actress counsels with women's group, Gabriela, specifically for cases involving women and sexual abuse.

"Nung may [hearing of the] case pa po kami [against Hayden Kho Jr], marami pong tumawag sa kanila na katulad ko ring case. Tumawag sa kanila, 'tapos pinatawag po ako,” she explained of how the volunteer work began.

“Nagkaroon kami ng parang sharing doon, yung mga victims. Parang dati, hindi sila [victims] nagsasalita, 'tapos nung lumabas ako, nagkaroon sila ng lakas ng loob, parang nasabi na nila."

According to Halili, the women identify with her.

"Iba po talaga siyempre yung may malalapitan ka, may masasabihan ka,” Halili said. “Kasi, di ba, iba pa rin yung nakaka-relate sa iyo yung sinasabihan mo? Paano ka naman makakapagsalita sa isang taong hindi ka naman naiintindihan dahil hindi naman nila na-experience yung na-experience mo? Ano ang maise-share mo?”

A memorable case Halili has handled involves a student raped by her own friends.

"Nakikipag-inuman, nung mawalan ng malay, ni-rape nung mga kainuman niya tapos na-video. Hindi na makapasok sa school, pagkatapos," Halili narrated.

Asked if there are celebrity friends who had approached her for counseling, the 25-year old says, "So far, ngayon wala pa. Pero hinanap ko yung number ni Iwa [Moto, actress-model], ha!"

Moto was recently embroiled in controversy after a violent episode with her boyfriend made it to the news.

"Kahapon ko pa hinahanap ang number ni Iwa. Kasi friend ko po yun. Kung mapapayuhan, siguro si Iwa pa lang," Halili added.

The sex video scandal involving Halili stemmed from a couple of videos allegedly taken by Hayden Kho Jr. It circulated in the net and became one of the biggest showbiz stories of 2009. It eventually led to Halili filing two criminal cases against Kho including one

where she accused the latter of taking videos of their sexual encounter without her knowledge and consent; and of illegally uploading the same.

Both cases were dismissed January this year for insufficiency of evidence. The case is now pending and under appeal at the Pasig Regional Trial Court 159.

source: mb.com.ph