Darryl Yap (left) and Vic Sotto. Image from Facebook, Instagram
Actor-host Vic Sotto is set to lodge a complaint on Thursday against what his camp simply described as the “maker of the Pepsi Paloma trailer,” a snippet of which mentioned his name as allegedly one of the rapists of the late sexy star of the ’80s.
Without mentioning the name of Darryl Yap, the filmmaker behind the movie, a message was received by members of the media from Sotto’s camp about the filing of a possible criminal case “before the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court.”
Under the rules of procedure, a criminal information may be directly filed in court, duly subscribed to by the aggrieved party. The court, however, may have to remand the case to the Office of the Prosecutor for further investigation either through inquest, or the more extensive preliminary investigation.
At the center of the controversy was the mention of Sotto’s name in the movie trailer, portrayed by actress-filmmaker Gina Alajar as Charito Solis, in her confrontation scene with former child star Rhed Bustamante as Paloma.
The then 14-year-old Paloma (real name Delia Dueñas Smith) was a rising sexy actress when she was allegedly raped by three other showbiz personalities in 1982. Her subsequent death three years later was ruled as a suicide by authorities, but controversies hounding her alleged rape, as well as the identity of perpetrators, refused to die down.
Yap helmed the making of the biopic, but he did not disclose who were funding the movie.
In his Facebook post recently, he denied that the Jalosjos family, or the Discaya families were behind him. It would be recalled that the Jalosjos family owned TAPE Inc., the production studio that suspended the operations of “Eat Bulaga!”, while construction executive Sarah Discaya is the political rival of Sotto’s son, Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto.
He further claimed that he has no personal or political motive to pin down Sotto, and that the producers of the film were not enemies of the actor-comedian’s family — counted as one of the most influential in the entertainment business and politics.
“Wala akong personal o pulitikal na motibo, hindi kaaway ng mga Sotto ang producer ko, wala akong masamang tinapay sa TVJ,” Yap said. “Si Pepsi Paloma ay Taga-Olongapo, tulad ko. Responsibilidad kong ibandera ang kwento ng aking lungsod at mamamayan nito.”
The filmmaker, however, heavily teased on his social media accounts several references believed to be alluding to Sotto, such as his use of the terms “Laban O Bawi,” (a popular segment of “Eat Bulaga”), and “Hindi Lyrics Ang Kanta” (pointing to the urban legend that the Eraserheads’ song Spoliarium is an ode to Paloma).
Yap also claimed that for 40 years, only the voices of the popular and powerful were heard, and that it was high time that the mother of Paloma should be allowed to speak her truth.