Volume 6, Issue No. 27
OPINION/COMMENTARY
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /
. . . . . A community service of Romar Media Canada, The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .
Our latest as of Tuesday, January 14, 2025
~ Public interest in the gang-rape and death of 14-year-old movie starlet Pepsi Paloma gets reignited after one of the accused rapists, comedian Vic Sotto of "Eat Bulaga" variety show, filed 19 counts of cyber libel against filmmaker Daryl Yap apparently for including his name in a teaser promoting the movie in the Philippines. Sotto, co-accused Joey De Leon, and the whole cast of the show performed in Toronto in April 2014.
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RAPE OF 14-YEAR-OLD STARLET PEPSI PALOMA
New Movie Reignites Rape Charge v. Actors
Vic Sotto of 'Eat Bulaga' Files Cyber Libel Case
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Editor, The Filipino Web Channel
"My advice is, if he's worried about his reputation, don't rape anyone." - Chanel Miller
TORONTO - Friends in the homeland have called my attention to the latest news developments in the 40-year-old gang-rape and suspicious death of movie starlet Pepsi Paloma by three confessed assailants belonging to the "Eat Bulaga" (EB) variety show.
Because they have a devoted following here, the Filipino community in Toronto is inextricably linked to EB and its mainstays, namely Vic Sotto, Joey de Leon, Tito Sotto, and the whole cast minus the now-deceased Richie Reyes alias Richie d'Horsie.
In April 2014, EB performed at Sony Centre for the Performing Arts (now Meridian Hall) in downtown Toronto even in the face of a protest rally by concerned citizens condemning the sexual assault on the 14-year-old Pepsi Paloma at a hotel in 1982.
"Pepsi Paloma was only 14 years old when she and another actress named Guada Guarin reported that they were drugged in a bar and brought to a room at the Sulo Hotel in Quezon City where they were 'gang-raped' by Joey De Leon, Vic Sotto and Richie D'Horsie, the comedian hosts of the popular TV show 'Eat Bulaga!'," lawyer Rodel Rodis wrote in the Inquirer on March 15, 2014.
At that time, Vic Sotto (now 70 years old) was 28; De Leon (now 78) was 36; and Richie D'Horsie, was 26, and died at age 58 in 2015.
Four decades after that crime was committed, a 38-year-old filmmaker named Daryl Yap has come out with a teaser to promote his documentary about Pepsi Paloma (real name: Delia Duenas Smith, born July 17, 1966, died May 31, 1985 at age 18). Yap and Paloma are from Olongapo, Zambales.
It is Yap's teaser that has reignited interest in the case, especially after Vic Sotto, accompanied by former EB dancer and now wife Pauleen Luna, filed 19 counts of cyber libel in a Muntinglupa court, apparently for including his name in the promotional teaser of the movie titled The Rapists of Pepsi Paloma. (More info: https://www.pep.ph/news/local/184815/vic-sotto-darryl-yap-cyberlibel-a718-20250109).
Luna, now 36 years old, wasn't born yet when the gang-rape happened. Sotto, then age 62, married Luna, age 28, in 2016. Thirty-four years exist between them. (Related video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FLfYCfxNdc).
When they were in Toronto, none of the major actors agreed to be interviewed. In fact, their handlers blocked any attempt by The Filipino Web Channel to join their press conference at the Intercontinental Hotel on April 10, 2014. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOkAKDZC7dU).
The outrage has not gone down. That's evident from the news feed that I'm getting from Manila after friends watched my news coverage of the protest against EB in Toronto.
Related video coverage:
Faced with the possibility of death by electrocution at that time when the country was still under martial law, Sotto, De Leon and Reyes confessed and publicly apologized, calling the gang-rape an "error".
Their published statement read: "We hope that you will not allow the error we have committed against you to stand as a stumbling block to that future which we all look forward to. We therefore ask you to find it in your heart to pardon us for the wrong which we have done against you."
Ray Sabatin, leader of the Toronto protesters, would not be assuaged. He said: "What kind of conscience are these people telling us? I am leading this demonstration to let the operators of 'Eat Bulaga' know that we did not forget what happened to the poor girl, Pepsi Paloma."
"They have the nerve to proudly show their gig in my adopted land, peaceful Canada," he continued. "Articles and blogs in the worldwide web indicate to me they murdered the poor girl. They got away with heinous crime - rape and murder. These people are making a joke out of us," he added.
Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto's older brother and a former senator, was not involved in the gang-rape but was instrumental in having Pepsi Paloma dropped the case in exchange for the apology by the three rapists.
Paloma was reportedly given 300,000 pesos (about $6,000) as part of the settlement.
Three years later in 1985, Pepsi Paloma was found dead. Police said she committed suicide, a claim that was widely discredited. More likely, she was murdered, according to her fans and people close to her. (Full story at: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/1003...
.) (Copyright 2025. All Rights Reserved).
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