Darryl Yap's motion to consolidate two cases in 'Pepsi Paloma' film issue denied

MANILA, Philippines - The Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 205 has rejected the request of the filmmaker Darryl Yap's camp to consolidate the petition for writ of habeas data and the criminal complaint filed by the veteran actor Vic Sotto over the controversial teaser of the upcoming movie ‘The Rapist of Pepsi Paloma,’ due to lack of merit.

The trailer which made a noise to the public was posted on VinCentiments’ Facebook page on January 1 wherein, it shows the character of Charito Solis asking Pepsi Paloma—a young actress who was found dead in her apartment in 1985 after alleged rape cases against Vic Sotto, Joey De Leon, and Richie D’ Horsie dominated the entertainment industry in 1982—whether or not she was raped by Vic Sotto, to which she said yes. 

Due to Sotto’s name being specifically stated in the clip, he filed a complaint against Yap on January 9, wherein 19 counts of violation of Section 4 of Republic Act 10175, also known as the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2022, were filed. 

Yap's camp is led by the director’s legal counsel, Atty. Raymond Fortun, wherein he stressed that his client sent Vic Sotto a copy of his film's script ahead of the teaser's release for him to give his comments. However, despite several follow-ups, they never heard back from Sotto’s camp—not until the movie trailer went viral. In contrast, Sotto claimed in an interview that no one from the movie production consulted him. 

Meanwhile, Yap's camp asked the Muntinlupa court to consolidate the cases filed by Sotto against him on Monday, but was denied by the said court on January 14, noting that "the motion for immediate consolidation is devoid of merit."

The summary hearing of the said complaint is set for January 17.