Statistics and the Revilla-Manahan Private Video

Early last month, I wrote my thoughts on the Ramgen Revilla murder case in an article that you can read here. The article was difficult to write because of the murder case’s profoundly sensitive nature and the intricate familial and social dynamics involved.

I posted the article just once or twice on Facebook; but since I can be prolific when the mood hits me, it was eventually superseded by the articles that I wrote soon thereafter.

Left on its own, however, the article continued to quietly rack up statistics. Because I had deleted the post from my Facebook Timeline, most of the readers were referred to this site by search engines.

Even when the murder case was overtaken in the news by the more celebratory reports about the impending holiday season as well as the gruesome devastation brought about by tropical storm Sendong, the stats continued to roll in.

Testing certain search keywords using the text string “ramgen revilla,” I discovered that the article frequently landed on the first page of search results by both Google and Yahoo. So that explained the readership. Apparently, there was real interest in the case not only among home-based Filipinos but also those living abroad.

Here were the frequent keywords used to find the article:

ramgen revilla
ramgen revilla case
ramgen revilla news
ramgen revilla murder case
ramgen revilla murdered

At the start of this year, the stats started rising abnormally high. I say abnormal because – as most bloggers will tell you – people are out partying on Christmas and New Year’s Day and only the lonely have the time and the inclination to surf the Internet.

My other recent posts were getting readers – but no more than at the average rate. In fact, these posts were being outperformed by the Revilla murder case that I wrote much earlier.

I cannot say, though, that I was at all pleased by the sudden rise in stats. I sincerely doubt that many of those who landed in this site actually bothered to stay. These subsequent keywords immediately told me that people were actually looking for something other than information or opinions about the murder case:

ramgen and janelle
ramgen revilla and janelle manahan
ramgen janelle video
ramgen revilla janelle manahan video

Then, last night in the news, I finally understood why. One of the reports showed Janelle Manahan’s lawyer making a statement to the media that charges were to be filed in a court of law against Ramgen Revilla’s siblings for the release of the private video that had been circulating through the Internet.

Private in this context, of course, means of the most private. Alright! This was a sex video.

Genelyn Bautista, mother of the slain Ramgen, vehemently denied any involvement of her family in the release of the video. She pleaded with everyone to just leave them all be. About Ramgen, “Patay na ngâ!” was all she could wearily say.

I agree completely. The circumstances of his death were brutal enough to begin with; and the least all of us can do for the repose of his soul will be to just leave him be.

The video has no significance to the murder case whatsoever, as one policeman correctly pointed out in the same news clip. However, any allegations from Genelyn Bautista’s camp that the police were somehow responsible for the release of the video were quickly refuted by the PNP.

A printed inventory of the items from the Revilla House that were taken for investigatory purposes showed that Ramgen’s digital camera and laptop were not taken. These had no significance to the murder case, the policeman said.

Manahan’s camp, on the other hand, is convinced that one of the siblings was responsible for the video’s release. The digital camera and laptop were with them, after all; or so the lawyer alleged.

Personally, I don’t know who to believe anymore; and I had previously stated that I intend to reserve judgement on the murder case until all the evidences have been presented in a court of law.

As for the video driving up my stats, it’s unfortunate that this is just a consequence of the cliché “curiosity killed the cat.” Or, shall we say, the horny cat…

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