‘Pepsi Paloma’ director faces cyberlibel charges

The Muntinlupa City Prosecutor’s Office has filed two counts of cyber libel against director Darryl Yap over the teaser for his controversial film, The Rapists of Pepsi Paloma.

In a resolution dated 17 March, the prosecutor’s office found “prima facie evidence” to charge Yap with libel under the Revised Penal Code as amended, in relation to the Cybercrime Prevention Act.

The charges stem from a complaint filed on 9 January by veteran TV host and actor Vic Sotto, who accused Yap of 19 counts of cyber libel. The controversy centers on a teaser released 1 January for Yap’s upcoming film, which depicts the late actress Pepsi Paloma.

In the teaser, a character portraying actress Charito Solis asks the actress playing Paloma if she was raped by Sotto, to which the Paloma character replies, “yes.”

Prosecutors stated that the scene defamed Sotto by “attributing or ascribing to the latter the commission of the crime against deceased actress Pepsi Paloma, or that said complainant was a rapist, thereby exposing the latter to public contempt, hatred, dishonor or ridicule or causing the latter’s reputation to be tarnished.”

The recommended bail for each count is P10,000.

In an interview, Sotto said he had initially remained silent about the viral videos but has now decided to seek justice. “A lot of people have been asking me, ‘ano reaction mo?’ Ito na po yun. Ito na po yung reaction ko,” Sotto said, adding, “I just trust in our justice system. Ako’y laban sa mga irresponsableng tao lalo na pagdating sa social media (I am against irresponsible people especially when it comes to social media).”