There’s no word yet, as of this writing, from the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) if the Darryl Yap controversial film has been approved for screening in theaters even as Yap — the film’s director and producer — has been announcing on his Facebook page Vincentiments that the The Rapists of Pepsi Paloma will open in theaters nationwide on premiere night on 5 February, a mere 10 days from the time of this writing. 

It seems to us too premature for a nationwide screening. The film hasn’t been treated to substantial publicity and promotion. For instance, we don’t know enough yet about its title-role actor Rhed Bustamanate, reportedly a child actor in the past. Frankly, we hardly heard of her. 

There isn’t enough teaser on how much involvement in the late actor’s life and career her mother had. That mother, Lydia Dueñas, seems to be Yap’s main source of information about Pepsi’s very short life (she committed suicide when she was only 18 years old) with her eldest daughter with American letter-carrier Kenny Smith who abandoned the family in Olongapo City when Delia (Paloma’s real first name) and her brother were still toddlers. The mother and the brother seem to be still living in Olongapo — just like Yap (who was born there in 1987). 

Yap’s film includes the mother as a character in the film portrayed by the versatile and much awarded stage actor Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino. 

Yap’s announcement about releasing the film goes with another “trailer,” which no longer mentions actor-host-producer Vic Sotto as the rapist of the late nymphet and skin-flick actor. (The case filed by Paloma and her manager then, the late optician Dr. Rey de la Cruz, was eventually discontinued and had no final judgment-resolution at all). 

Technically, what Yap has so far released are not  “trailers” but just “teasers.” A trailer is so-called because it “trails” (comes after) the main feature in a moviehouse. Yap’s two “trailers” were shown only on his Facebook, never in a cinema. 

A trailer in a moviehouse needs MTRCB approval. Yap has never mentioned that any of his “trailers” was approved by the MTRCB. He most likely never submitted both to MTRCB based on the reasoning that the “trailers” are not to be shown in any of the moviehouses in the country. The Internet and social media are not included in the MTRCB’s specimens for review and classification. 

But if his film is really meant to be shown in theaters, MTRCB may question Yap for not bothering to let the agency see those trailers since reviewing and classifying trailers is part of the agency’s mandated tasks.

It is now believed that Yap has no backing from any major entertainment establishments or any wealthy and influential  personalities. Yap, the son of former school teachers, is now seen as the sole producer of a controversial film for which he has been sued for 19 counts of cyber libel filed by actor-host producer Vic Sotto whose name was mentioned clearly in the films first “trailer” for the film posted in his Facebook (FB) page, VinCentiments.