The story of Pepsi Paloma and a cyber libel case

Movie director-scriptwriter Darryl Yap is said to have sent to actor-host-producer Vic Sotto a copy of the script for the film The Rapists of Pepsi Paloma in which Sotto will be mentioned as the rapist.

The assertion is from the famous lawyer Raymond Fortun who is now Yap’s legal counsel for the cases against him (Yap) filed by Sotto in court.

According to Emil Sumangil’s report on GMA7’s news program 24 Oras on Friday (11 January), Fortun said that Yap sent the script to Sotto so he can give comments about it.

“The purpose was really for them to give comments dun sa script, so wala naman po. Ilang beses po na nag-follow-up si Direk Darryl na tungkol doon until finally na shoot na lahat ng mga scenes, so hindi na namin kasalanan ‘yun (The purpose was for them to give comments on the script, and there were none. Direk Darryl followed up on their comments several time, for all the scenes, so it is not our fault if they didn’t have any comments),” Fortun said.

Meanwhile, Yap has announced in his Facebook (FB) account VinCentiments that for the Philippine release of his forthcoming film next month its title will simply be Pepsi Paloma.

Yap must be working for an international release of the controversial movie and it is for that market that the originally publicized title of the film will be retained: The Rapists of Pepsi Paloma.

He did not justify the change of title for the local market, but it must be a reaction to the 19 counts of cyberlibel that Sotto has filed against him and Sotto’s petition in court for a writ of habeas data to compel Yap to pull out his FB postings of the teaser for the movie that categorically mentions Sotto as having raped the young actor Pepsi Paloma in 1982.

As of this writing that teaser is still on VinCentiments where it has been running since late December last year. The teaser has multi-posting on Yap’s FB since he uses it as the main visual practically for all his announcements about the film.

Yap has also announced that the famous lawyer Fortun has agreed to be his legal counsel in the case filed against him by Sotto. Yap stressed that Fortun is handling his (Yap’s) defense pro bono.

Yap has made other announcements about the movie in his FB: the inclusion of  sexy actor Rosanna Roces in the cast as well as an unidentified actor who looks like Miss Tapia, a grumpy old maid teacher who was a character in the quite popular TV comedy Iskul Bukol topbilled by the Sotto brothers Tito, Vic, and Maru plus Joey de Leon. 

Yap’s teasing caption on the photo of Roces: “The Rosanna Roces as The Divina Valencia. An Icon for an icon. Find out what she did that shook the very core of Pepsi Paloma.”

Valencia was a sexpot actor in the 60s who was much in demand as a leading lady to action stars, including her late first husband, Bernard Belleza.

Sometime in the late 1980s, Valencia was booked as a guest in the ABS-CBN talk show Rumor, Facts, and Humor, along with Paloma’s manager, the late Rey dela Cruz. Valencia ended up hitting Dela Cruz on-camera with the microphone.

It’s not known yet if Paloma was watching the show at that time. If Yap would have in his forthcoming film a scene in which Paloma witnessed that unexpected quick little violence on her manager, that Paloma scene might just be an “imaginative” concoction — just like the teaser scene in which actor Charito Solis (portrayed by Gina Alajar) is furiously asking Paloma (former child actor Rhed Bustamante) who answered with a terrified “Oo” (yes). 

Solis and Paloma did only one movie together, but there was never a report that Solis confronted Paloma about her supposed rape by Sotto. Solis passed away about a decade ago.

As for the Miss Tapia character, it was effectively portrayed in Iskul Bukol by the actor-radio talent Mely Tagasa (who passed in 2018).

It’s also not known yet if Yap has a reenactment of the guesting of Valencia and Dela Cruz in the TV show. Yap, however, has previously announced that character actor Mon Confiado is portraying the outwardly gay Dela Cruz in the film.

Our bet as of today is: Yap’s movie will likely be disapproved by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board headed by Lala Sotto, a daughter of former senator Tito Sotto, Vic’s older brother.

At most, Yap may succeed in showing the film through the digital platforms that are not required to submit their films to the MTRCB for approval. Yap has been announcing that his film will be shown in theaters next month.

Fortun has announced that they have filed in court for a gag order to stop Vic Sotto and his camp from talking about the Paloma film.