THERE are heroes who lift us, and there are those who drag us down as they sink to the depths of degradation, to the point of losing their humanity altogether. Hisses please, for the heels who trip us during the year.

1. Hayden Kho. Hardly a monster, Hayden Kho?s fall from grace in the aftermath of a sex video scandal was merely a testament to human folly and weakness. It remains unclear whether the good doctor (make that ex-doctor, after the Philippine Medical Association revoked his license) really had a hand in leaking to the public videos of himself bedding sexy star Katrina Halili and commercial model Maricar Reyes. In any case, Kho made matters worse by trying to paint himself as the victim, and proposing a laughable ?the drugs made me do it? defense. Halili and Reyes seem to have emerged from the debacle with their careers intact. Meanwhile, another Kho bedmate, the ?Brazilian model? must be glad for once that apparently nobody can remember her name. As in the song ?Just a Gigolo,? Hayden ?ain?t got nobody.? Except his mom.

2. Carlo J. Caparas. The renowned ?Komiks King? and ?massacre movie? magnate was clearly delusional when he accepted Malacañang?s controversial proclamation as National Artist. Instead of shutting up in the wake of the public furor that followed, Carlo J. went on the offensive, explaining to all who cared to listen why he deserved to be recognized nationally for literature, visual arts, etc. ? maybe in a parallel universe.

3. Jason Ivler. Road rage and a misplaced sense of entitlement make for a deadly combination. In 2004, Ivler, a US citizen who is also the son of singer Freddie Aguilar?s sister Marlene and stepson of an ADB official, was charged with homicide when his car smashed into another, killing the son of presidential adviser Nestor Ponce Jr. Ivler must have it in for Malacañang: witnesses say he shot and killed Renato Ebarle Jr., the son of an undersecretary of the Presidential Management Staff, after a traffic altercation. Ivler fled the scene and is still in hiding. Meanwhile, his mother has gone to town with claims that this latest case is part of the harassment she and her son have been getting as a result of her recently-published self-described ?anti-American? book, Warriors of Heaven.

4. Andal Ampatuan Jr. The scariest thing about the Maguindanao massacre was not the brutality with which its perpetrators snuffed out the lives of at least 57 people, including women, journalists and innocent highway motorists, but that it was apparently just business as usual, what with a backhoe and its operator being requisitioned as for any public works project. That, and the fact that they fully expected to get away with it. No biggie. The murderous ruthlessness behind the massacre is still recognizably human, but the impunity with which it was executed is less so. One can?t help wondering what Carlo J. could make of it.

5. Delfin dela Paz. This businessman created quite a stir with his emailed version of how golf can turn out to be a contact sport, but the Valley Golf and Country Club did its own investigation and expelled him for ?disorderly conduct? in instigating the brawl with Agrarian Reform secretary Nasser Pangandaman. The DAR official was suspended for two years as well.

6. Jose Antonio Leviste. He calls it self-defense, but the courts called it homicide. The former Batangas governor and estranged husband of Senator Loren Legarda got a 6 to 12-year prison term for killing his longtime aide, Rafael delas Alas two years ago.

7. Celso delos Angeles. This Legacy Group founder left a legacy of bad debts and bad faith, after he and several Legacy officials siphoned off funds from several banks connected to their company, causing its collapse and leaving some 30,000 pre-need planholders out in the cold. The group was later exposed to have bribed commissioner Jesus Martinez of the regulatory body Securities and Exchange Commission with cash and a house.

8. Major General Carlos Garcia, wife Clarita Depakakibo Garcia and sons Timothy Mark, Juan Paulo and Ian Carl. Plunder runs in the family, it seems, for this military official who has been dipping into public funds so huge the wife binges, not on shoes or jewelry but on high-end condos in the US. While the older Garcia cools his heels in a Philippine jail, his kin have been arrested and detained in the US.

9. Salmonella. Bacteria world?s version of the evil Mini-Me, a virus so toxic it caused the recall of several peanut butter brands from store shelves for fear of them being contaminated.

10. Romeo Jalosjos. After 13 years in prison, this child rapist and former Zambo del Norte congressman goes free when his two life sentences were commuted by the Justice department for good behavior.

11. Abu Sayyaf. The notorious bandit group kidnaps Filipino engineer Mary Jean Lacaba and her colleagues in the International Committee of the Red Cross Andreas Notter of Switzerland and Eugenio Vagni of Italy, just after the trio had just finished inspecting water facilities in the Jolo jail. Lacaba was set free on April 2, Notter on April 18, and Vagni on July 12. ?