- Senate President Vicente Sotto III asked Inquirer to remove articles on Pepsi Paloma
- The current senate president says the ‘unverified articles’ posted on Inquirer.net ‘have been negatively affecting my reputation for the longest time’
- “I believe there was malicious imputation of a crime against me…. These kinds of unverified articles have been negatively affecting my reputation for the longest time,” he wrote
United States-based columnist Rodel Rodis revealed Sen. Tito Sotto’s letter to Inquirer to remove the three articles concerning the Senate President and Pepsi Paloma.
Rodis shared Sotto’s “Senate President Tito Sotto has “requested” the Philippine Daily Inquirer to remove from its website all the articles I wrote about him (“The Rape of Pepsi Paloma” and “Was Pepsi Paloma Murdered?”). If the Inquirer agrees to his requests, a dangerous precedent will be set. Sotto is cyberbullying the Inquirer.”
The articles mentioned were The Rape of Pepsi Paloma, Was Pepsi Paloma Murdered? (both by Rodis), and Tito Sotto denies whitewashing Pepsi Paloma rape case by Totel de Jesus.
Undying issue with Pepsi Paloma
Pepsi Paloma made headlines in 1982 when she sought the services of Lawyer Rene Cayetano to file a case against three high-profile suspects (mainly Joey de Leon, Richie D’Horsey, and Vic Sotto) who allegedly drugged and raped her.
The three men (excluding Tito Sotto) issued a public apology on the People’s Journal. Part of it reads: “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.”
Tito Sotto was then allegedly involved in an elaborate cover-up which included coercing Pepsi Paloma into signing an ‘affidavit of desistance’ and dropping the rape complaint.
Three years after the alleged rape, Paloma was found dead inside her apartment in an apparent suicide.
Efforts to clear his name
In his efforts to “clear his name”, Senator Sotto called the Pepsi Paloma scandal a “gimmick.”
Speaking at DZMM’s election coverage in 2016, Sotto said, “Una, 1988 po ako naging vice mayor ng Quezon City. Matagal na hong wala ‘yung kwentong ‘yun. 1982 ho yung kwentong iyun eh. So, wala ho akong pakialam sa isyung iyan nung araw,” (“First off, I became Vice Mayor of Quezon city in 1988. That was an old story. The story came from 1982. So, I don’t care about that isse back then,“) Sotto explained.
“Para ho sa kaalaman ng lahat… gimik ho ni Rey dela Cruz (Paloma’s manager) ‘yun. Hindi ho totoo ‘yun. Pinagtangkaan nilang magkaso kasi tinira sila ng libel nina Vic (Sotto) at Joey (De Leon). Idinemanda sila ng libel kaya pinagtangkaan nilang balikan ng kaso. Pero makikita n’yo naman sa nangyari pagkatapos, wala naman dahil gimmick lang talaga ni nasirang Rey ‘yon. ” (“For everyone’s information… this is all just a gimmick by Rey dela Cruz. This is not true. They tried to filing a lawsuit because Vic and Joey initially hit them with libel. A libel lawsuit was filed against them first which is the reason why they attempted to file a lawsuit. But you will see after everything ended, it’s nothing because it was all a gimmick by the late-Rey,“) Sotto elaborated.
“Pagkatapos, mayroon pa akong nababasa sa Facebook na kaya daw nagpakamatay si ganon… hindi ho, droga po ‘yun! May mga dyaryo nga na lumabas na concerned; sabi sa mga lumang dyaryo makikita na si Paloma mismo ang nagsasabi na hindi totoo,” (“I am reading things on Facebook that the reason why this person died… that’s not true, it was drugs! There were newspapers released in which you will see that Paloma herself says that these were all not true.“) Sotto added.
“Mga naninira na lang yun. Ginagamit pa rin sa Facebook kung anong gimmick nung araw. Hindi po totoo ‘yun, wala pong katotohanan,” (“These are all from detractors. They are simply using the gimmick back in the days in Facebook. These are all false. There are no truths in it,“) Sotto ended.
Inquirer.net’s statement on Senate President Vicente Sotto III’s request
Inquirer thru their Publisher/Editor in Chief Abelardo S. Ulanday released a statement on Saturday, saying that it was Sotto’s right to make such requests.
INQUIRER.net US-based columnist Rodel Rodis has posted on his personal Facebook account a copy of the letter by Senate President Vicente Sotto III requesting that two articles he wrote in 2014 and has since been posted on INQUIRER.net be removed from the site.
Rodis also commented that if Inquirer agrees to his request, this would set a dangerous precedent.
INQUIRER.net believes it is within Sen. Sotto’s right to make this request, citing particularly his claims that the articles contain unverified facts and baseless allegations. Also, to be fair with the senator, he has relayed this request to INQUIRER.net much earlier through his staff.
We had received and have been receiving similar requests from people and organizations to have articles written about them and posted on the site be taken down, citing reasons ranging from inaccuracy to being unduly vilified in public and threatened with harm not only to them but also to their family. Some had filed libel suits. We have acted on these requests judiciously and made decisions based on our own investigation and based on our journalistic values and principles.
In relation to Sen. Sotto’s request, INQUIRER.net has not made any decision. This is also the reason why we’ve asked Mr. Rodis to comment on the request. He has replied to us by email which we received today (June 16, 2018). But his act of posting this request on social media is his own decision. INQUIRER.net has nothing to do with it.
