MANILA, Philippines – Celebrity doctor Vicki Belo’s voice was the only one not heard at last week’s rather raucous Senate hearing on the sex video scandal involving herself, fellow doctor and former boyfriend Hayden Kho, and sexy actress Katrina Halili.

Although she sent an affidavit to the hearing through lawyer Adel Tamano, the usually loquacious Belo has chosen to remain silent throughout the chaos so far—except for a few sound bites culled from ambush interviews.

Tuesday night last week, however, she gave Inquirer Entertainment an exclusive and extensive phone interview minutes before her flight to Paris, France, where she’s taping an episode of her TFC program, “Belo Beauty 101.”

Thus, after weeks of hemming and hawing, Belo talked—unleashing a mouthful.

‘That’s crazy’

“I am not the mastermind,” she asserted. She had heard the rumor that she instigated the release of Kho’s sex videos with several women, including Halili, out of spite and jealousy.

Earlier, television host Lolit Solis said Kho told her that his estranged friend Eric Chua had pointed to Belo as the mastermind.

“That’s crazy,” Belo said. “We’ve gone through a lot... in the last six months, but now I’m trying to build up Hayden. I would never do anything to destroy him.”

In December, Kho attempted suicide when Belo broke up with him, having learned of his affairs with other women through the sex videos.

“Some people even suspected that his suicide attempt was fake because, as a doctor, he knows the limit,” Belo recounted. “But I [saw] the toxicology report. He took three times the lethal dose [of Valium].”

Kho isn’t getting a fair shake, she said. “He underwent drug rehabilitation. He sought the help of psychologists. He went through a lot of soul-searching. He has changed.”

Belo further noted that Kho was on the road to recovery when the sex videos were released on the Net and via pirated DVDs this month. “He was about to stand, but was pushed back to the ground,” she said.

She had no idea who’s behind the release, “Basta [really] it’s not me.” She said her own sex video with Kho was taken with her consent, “Just for fun and on condition that it would be deleted immediately.”

After it was rumored that it would be circulated, too, a joke reached Belo: “People said my video would sell for just P5. Ouch! Such a big insult.”

Another rumor she wished to debunk was Solis’ allegation that Hayden was receiving P300,000 from Belo Clinic, and was living in her posh Pacific Place condominium at The Fort.

“That is so unfair to Hayden’s family. His father is also a doctor, with a good practice. Also, I didn’t pay for the catering for Hayden’s birthday party on May 20. It’s so embarrassing, I can’t face his family, with whom I’ve grown close.”

Emotional support

Belo insisted that Kho resigned from Belo Clinic last December and that he lives in his parents’ home on Kanlaon Street, Quezon City.

Clearly, Belo is standing by her man, though she stressed that they are no longer lovers, having followed the suggestion of Kho’s counselor to keep their relationship platonic. Kho has repeatedly declared as much in his own TV interviews.

“All I can offer him is emotional support,” Belo explained. “I can love him only as a friend.”

Solis said that she and other friends have repeatedly reminded Belo of Kho’s past offenses. They’ve expressed concern that Belo and Kho could be in a “co-dependent” relationship.

“I feel that I may be a little co-dependent,” Belo admitted. “I want him to succeed. He’s been drug-free ... but there are things that are happening now...”

Not necessary

Inquirer asked Tamano if Belo considered seeking professional help to sort out her problems with Kho. The lawyer replied, “I don’t think that’s necessary right now because she is receiving total love and support from her family.”

Belo also admitted that she was reluctant to leave the country in the middle of the raging scandal. “This trip was planned months ago. I’m worried because I’ll be away for two weeks. I’m afraid for him. But this trial has made him more prayerful.”

Solis said Belo blamed herself for Kho’s troubles. “She feels Hayden was a good boy until she got him into show biz. I tell her that Hayden was deceiving and abusing women long before she met him.”

Again, Belo spoke in Kho’s defense: “Nanay Lolit just misunderstood Hayden when he said that he started video-taping long before ... He told me that it was his first girlfriend who first video-taped him.”

Solis expressed apprehension that the scandal could have an adverse effect on Belo’s beauty business.

Belo disagreed: “I’ve been through a lot of scandals and they didn’t affect the clinic. I [trust] that this latest intrigue wouldn’t, either. Belo Medical Group is composed of 30 doctors; not just me. I always tell our staff that, at the end of the day, what we offer is good service.”

Intrigues, however, have become as commonplace as rhinoplasty and liposuctions in Belo’s world.

During the seventh anniversary celebration for Flawless, a beauty clinic she co-owns, recently, Belo told reporters that the sex video scandal should “teach women to be more careful... not to get involved with men who already have girlfriends or wives.”

She explained to the Inquirer that she didn’t mean to sound harsh towards the wome in Kho’s videos. “My entire career has always been about empowering women—to make them feel more confident and powerful,” she said. “Through the years, I’ve met a lot of depressed women who’ve been betrayed by their boyfriends and husbands.” She never imagined she would end up in the same predicament.

Seduced by others

“What I meant in that interview was that we need to respect each other,” she said. “Women should respect the women who are involved with the men they are eyeing.”

All those videos, Belo said, were taken “when Hayden and I were already a couple,” most of them “in our apartment.”

She conceded that hers is the voice of a woman betrayed: “I’m fighting for the rights of women whose men were seduced by other women. I can’t understand why some women target men who are already in committed relationships. Maybe, they find those men more challenging?”

She said she also felt like a victim when she learned of Kho’s affair with Halili. “She was my endorser. I felt deceived. It was painful. I find it hard to sympathize with her.”

At the Flawless event, Belo and Halili, as one of the firm’s celebrity endorsers, would have met face-to-face for the first time since the scandal broke. As luck would have it, a confrontation was avoided because Halili’s lawyer, Raymund Palad, advised her against showing up.

“But I was ready to face her,” Belo said. “Why should I avoid her? I’m a co-owner of Flawless and I... was the one who was hurt and betrayed.”

She regards Kho as a victim like herself, and Halili as the victimizer. Nevertheless, she didn’t object when her Flawless partners hired Halili.

Belo explained, “I try very hard to separate the professional from the personal. This is business and Katrina is a good endorser.”