Tito and Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon — collectively known as Tito, Vic & Joey or TVJ — were on top of the world halfway through 1982. They had reason to be jubilant. Their noontime show, Eat Bulaga, was finally able to defeat its more established rival, Student Canteen, in the ratings game.

This was how bad their numbers were in the beginning: Student Canteen — 57.6 percent. Eat Bulaga 5.2 percent. Eat Bulaga’s ratings improved little by little in time, but not enough to topple Student Canteen.

Eat Bulaga!, however, hit the double jackpot on 18 May 1982. Two months earlier, Coney Reyes was fired from Student Canteen after commiserating with Helen Vela, who had resigned supposedly due to the misogynistic atmosphere she felt within the program.

Left without a show, Coney took a pay cut and joined Eat Bulaga!. Since everybody loves an underdog, Student Canteen viewers shifted to Eat Bulaga! in support of Coney.

But what cemented Eat Bulaga!’s victory over Student Canteen was when RPN-9 acquired Domsat facilities that proved beneficial to all its programs, including Eat Bulaga!. Prior to Domsat (short for domestic satellite), shows originating from Manila were already stale (a delay of three days to a week) by the time these were aired in the provinces, particularly in the Visayas and Mindanao.

But with Domsat, episodes of Eat Bulaga! and other Channel 9 shows were enjoyed simultaneously by viewers from Aparri to Jolo. Channel 7 and other networks didn’t have that advantage and this pushed RPN-9 to the No.1 position, benefiting Eat Bulaga! the most.

Tito, Vic and Joey never had it so good. Then, the world caved in on them.

On 31 July 1982, it was reported that starlet Pepsi Paloma had been raped — dragging the names of Vic and Joey into a scandal that became tabloid fodder for no more than three months. It lasted no longer than that — contrary to what most people are inclined to believe today.

A newspaper clipping from that period had surfaced on Facebook, but I am hesitant to use that as reference. Sure, it was a legitimate article. But then, that must be some gospel, according to Rey de la Cruz, Pepsi Paloma’s talent manager.

An optometrist by profession (thus, the title Dr. affixed to his name), De la Cruz had the best PR skills and did the rounds of tabloid offices even before the Pepsi Paloma brouhaha happened. He made friends not only with showbiz reporters, but more so with editors who wielded unlimited power when print was at its peak.

The circumstances I will narrate here came from what I recall reading back then and from interviews and casual conversations I made with other people regarding the Pepsi Paloma story during the entirety of my career in showbiz.

Taping to alleged raping

In my memory, there was supposed to be a billiard table — a prop used in Iskul Bukol, the sitcom TVJ headlined on Channel 13 starting in 1978. In fact, everything supposedly started on the set of Iskul Bukol. There was a taping scheduled that day — with Pepsi Paloma and Guada Guarin as guest stars.

Everyone showed up for work — at Broadcast City’s PS 1 or Production Studio 1. But since a typhoon was raging across Metro Manila and nearby provinces, Boy Gatus, the show’s producer, decided to pack up the shoot.

Stories from the internet now claim that Vic and Joey sexually assaulted Pepsi Paloma, while comic sidekick Richie D’Horsey took pictures. The scene of the crime was said to be at the Sulo Hotel.

But, based on what I remember, Joey was only accused of molestation — with Guada Guarin as the SUPPOSED victim. However, on the night he was allegedly molesting Guarin, Joey had already taken a cab (he never drove) to play mahjong in the house of Vic del Rosario’s mother in Scout Madrinan in Quezon City.

It was only Vic who was accused of raping Pepsi. He was played up to be the most guilty.

And Tito? It was clear from the beginning that he was with his family in their White Plains home when the rape supposedly happened. And the story about him interfering with the case — complete with a gun on the table — surfaced only much, much later.

If I recall right, the broadsheets never touched the Pepsi Paloma rape story. It was only the tabloids that reported the incident — and not even on a regular basis.

Then, one day in October of the same year, People’s Journal published on its front page a picture of TVJ together with Guada and Pepsi, plus Rey de la Cruz. Also with them in the photo was then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile. Everybody was smiling from ear to ear.

At the office of Enrile, it was reported that TVJ had a talk with Rey de la Cruz — with Vic, Joey and Richie agreeing to apologize to the two women. The apology, however, had to be done on TV — although when they came around to doing that, there were no specifics. Internet stories today actually insist that they did the apology on their knees. Fake news.

Tabloid fodder

Life went back to normal for most of them. Vic and Dina Bonnevie had their church wedding in December of that year — at the Mary the Queen parish (they had wed in civil rites before the mayor of Bacoor, Cavite in late 1981). Pepsi and Guada, meanwhile, decided to dump Rey as their manager.

Pepsi was taken in by actress-producer Laila Dee and, in retaliation, Rey built up Sarsi Emmanuelle and Coke (later changed to Coca) Nicolas. The career of Pepsi began to flourish, especially when she started doing movies for Celso Ad. Castillo — Virgin People and Snake Sisters.

When Pepsi died by hanging on 31 May 1985, it was again the tabloids that feasted on her suicide. It wasn’t considered a major story, especially since Julie Vega had died unexpectedly only three weeks prior. THAT was the showbiz event of the season since the young actress was practically on her way to junior superstardom when she died.

Rey made tabloid headlines again after EDSA I when he had an altercation with Divina Valencia on live TV — in ABS-CBN’s Rumors, Facts and Humor. Valencia lost her temper and ended up hitting Rey with the microphone.

By April 1992, Rey de la Cruz was dead — shot in the head right outside his optometry clinic in Quiapo. Who killed him? Nobody knows for sure. The suspects range from the Alex Boncayao Brigade to the Yakuza in Japan.

The Pepsi Paloma case had largely been forgotten by the time of Rey’s death. It was resurrected though when Ely Buendia wrote the song “Spoliarium” in 1997. Its lyrics alluded to the alleged Pepsi Paloma rape case. Of course, he later claimed that it was all a coincidence. But whom is he kidding?

Forgiveness and vindication

In 2002, I was offered to write the Eat Bulaga! book in time for its silver anniversary in 2004. The first question I asked Tony Tuviera was about the Pepsi Paloma incident. What do we do with it? Do we gloss over it or tackle it head-on?

He then told me this story: Decades back, Guada Guarin had turned Christian and became church-mates with Mely Tagasa a.k.a. Miss Tapia. Guada had wanted to use Miss Tapia as mediator to get to Vic Sotto. She wanted to apologize to Vic for her participation in the “staged” Pepsi Paloma rape case.

According to Guada, it was all the doing of Rey dela Cruz, who wanted to make big stars out of her and Pepsi by using Vic and Joey. Now, could she have an audience with Vic so that she could ask for his forgiveness personally?

Miss Tapia promptly relayed the message to Vic. His response: He had moved on and an apology was no longer necessary.

After hearing that story, I promptly wrote an entire chapter about how Guada Guarin had sought Vic Sotto’s forgiveness. But Vic wanted no mention of it in the book. Never mind if it was going to be his vindication. Their vindication.

I stood my ground and refused to proceed with the project unless that part was included in the book. Eat Bulaga! turned silver without the book launch scheduled that year.

In late 2009 though, Joey’s son, Jako de Leon, persuaded me to revive the project. I finally agreed to do the book, minus the Pepsi Paloma chapter. Jako and I ended up mounting the book in time for Eat Bulaga!’s 30th year.

Some people who bought copies did ask me why the rape case was not included in the book. So I told them Vic didn’t want it. To me, that would have ended all speculations.

True enough, with the advent of social media, every time there is a controversy about TVJ, the Pepsi Paloma issue always manages to resurface. Unfortunately, some netizens who bring up this incident weren’t even around yet when the case supposedly happened. They shoot from the hip — muddling the controversy even further.

And now, the biggest showbiz news is Darryl Yap’s upcoming movie, The Rapists of Pepsi Paloma. Vic and Darryl are now in the middle of a legal tussle.

With Darryl’s teaser raking in 37 or so million views in various platforms, does he still have to release this film? He has already made money off that at this point.

Oh, Darryl. If people only knew him — or if Vic only knew him — he could be the most respectful person in the world. He is generally nice and pleasant. But on social media, he takes on a different form. He likes to ruffle feathers and is a provocateur.

If my hunch is correct, The Rapists of Pepsi Paloma will vindicate TVJ at the end of the story. There really is no need for TVJ to worry about the movie.

Unfortunately, the teaser is another story. And so, off to the court went Vic.

Strangely enough, I bumped into Miss Tapia’s daughter, the writer Gina Tagasa, only a few months ago. I asked her if her mother had ever mentioned the Guada Guarin story to her. She said no. It’s too late to ask Miss Tapia now. Mely Tagasa had been dead since 2018.

It baffles me now why Ms. Tagasa never even mentioned that story to her daughter. Maybe they don’t talk about showbiz at home?

I better shut up now before I add yet another layer of mystery to the already puzzling Pepsi Paloma story.

Butch Francisco, popular TV host and entertainment journalist known for leading iconic shows like Startalk and Showbiz Lingo, joins DAILY TRIBUNE with his column, The Butcher.

Delivering the hottest tea in showbiz, his column offers readers an exclusive glimpse into the lives of their favorite celebrities. True to his craft, Butch cuts through the glitz and glamour with razor-sharp precision, delivering the freshest showbiz updates.