Film & TV

What Good Will Come from Darryl Yap’s Pepsi Paloma Biopic?

What ​could director Darryl Yap’s upcoming film about the tragedy of a ‘70s starlet really do besides generating shock value, purporting “justice” for a woman by framing her as a victim?

By
FacebookTwitterEmailCopy Link
pepsi paloma virgin people movie
Screenshot from Virgin People from ABS-CBN Star Cinema YouTube

Trigger warning: This story mentions allegation of rape and drugging

P35 million in damages, 19 counts of cyber libel, and a gag order. Director Darryl Yap’s yet-to-be-released The Rapists of Pepsi Paloma has generated all these, as of writing, with just a 27-second teaser.

Not even a trailer. In it, Gina Alajar, who plays the late actress Charito Solis, frustratedly asks former child actor Rhed Bustamante, who plays the titular role: “Ni-rape ka ba ni Vic Sotto?” The blatant name-dropping with libelous implications has caused the noontime show host to pursue legal action, which the controversial director is embroiled in now.

pepsi paloma film darryl yap rhed bustamante
Former child star Rhed Bustamante plays the titular role. Photo from Darryl Yap Facebook

Yap’s upcoming movie references a 1982 case that Filipino-American actress Delia Dueñas Smith, also known as Pepsi Paloma, filed against Sotto, along with his Eat Bulaga co-hosts Joey de Leon and Richie D’Horsie. The three were accused of gang-raping and allegedly drugging the 15-year-old actress in a hotel room. The comedians issued a public apology published in People’s Journal in October of the same year, and the case was dismissed after Paloma signed an affidavit of desistance. 

Whether she dropped the case because she really forgave the men who allegedly wronged her, or because Tito Sotto coerced her — as some speculate, and which the former senate president denies — we might never know. Paloma died in 1985 in what the police ruled as suicide.

It is because of this ambiguity that the curious case of Pepsi Paloma continues to occupy a space in the Filipino’s celebrity-obsessed cultural memory — a murky and oftentimes conspiracy theory-fueled territory, where Yap’s The Rapists of Pepsi Paloma thrives.

Why Now? For Whose Benefit?

Much like his previous polarizing films like Maid in Malacañang — the first of his revisionist Marcos movie trilogy released after Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s presidential win — the Pepsi Paloma biopic conveniently comes at the foot of another election, prompting audiences to speculate the film as a smear campaign against the Sotto political clan. Tito Sotto is gunning for another term as senator after a two-year break from politics, while Vic Sotto’s son, Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto, is running for reelection. Yap denies having ties with Sotto’s political rivals. 

director darryl yap with pepsi paloma brother zaldy and mother lydia
Yap with Pepsi Paloma’s brother Zaldy and mother Lydia. Photo from Darryl Yap Facebook

The director has repeatedly stated that the film seeks justice for Paloma, his kababayan and fellow Olongapeño. As part of Yap’s research, he interviewed her family extensively, where much of the film’s plot is derived from. 

Some may question Yap’s motives — or even his directorial skills — but what’s undeniable is his knack for fanfare and ability to harness online dissent as fuel, much to the ire of his “haters.” While the progressive side of the algorithm dismisses the film as another of Yap’s attempts at regaining relevance, there are those who are curious and knee-deep in local showbiz lore , anticipating the release of The Rapists of Pepsi Paloma — whenever that maybe (Tito Sotto’s daughter Lala Sotto chairs the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board) — in the hopes of finding answers in a decades-old real-life drama.

But will it really arrive at something remotely close to the truth? Or will it only add more contention to stoke the fire of a controversy mooted by decades of peddling addled counter-narratives and defensive denials by living involved parties?

movie poster of 1982 film pepsi paloma the victim danny ochoa video 48
Photo from Video 48 Blogspot

Another rebuttal by Yap, when asked about his motives, is that the film honors Paloma’s death 40 years later. Dueñas Smith’s star turn came at a time in Philippine show business when budding female actors got their 15 minutes of fame through means that, by today’s standards, can be considered exploitative.

(The group of ‘80s young actresses where she belonged called  Softdrinks Beauties — after their screen names derived from soda brands — were once described as “fearless” owing to their “willingness” to show skin onscreen. The careers of Pepsi Paloma, Coca Nicolas, Sarsi Emmanuelle, and Mirinda Manibog later proved to be nothing but a flash in the pan.)

Clearly, hinging industry longevity on being the next pretty young thing may have set a dangerous precedent for Paloma, who reportedly faced money problems only four years into her acting career, which, some say, pushed her to commit suicide. 

It is unfortunate that Dueñas Smith’s legacy — one that should have been of a woman who flipped the predominantly male and predatory gaze of showbiz to her favor (until she couldn’t), starring in many of “enfant terrible” and “The Messiah” of Philippine cinema, director Celso Ad Castillo’s films — is reduced to a narrative of victimhood. Yap, with his history of revisionist tendencies, has yet to prove that The Rapists of Pepsi Paloma could undo this when judging by the teaser and the title alone, he’s resorted to mining tragedy and repurposing hurt.  

Is the film really about seeking justice for Pepsi Paloma, or is it yet another exploitation of her image to forward someone else’s agenda? 

Christian San Jose Christian San Jose is the Managing Editor of Rolling Stone Philippines, overseeing editorial operations and covering culture and the arts. He was previously the Associate Editor of Nolisoli.ph where h... Read More
Latest Issue
RS PH cover

Rolling Stone Philippines Magazine — Coming Soon