The Pepsi Paloma rape is getting attention again after the Eraserheads sang about what happened in the song “Spolarium.”
Diehard fans of the band told the Philippine Inquirer that “enteng” in the song is Vic Sotto, and “joey” is Joey de Leon, and it’s circulating on Facebook that the GMA TV hosts were involved in the gang rape of Paloma, who was a 14-year-old actress at the time (1982).
The song lyrics are also disseminated on a Facebook page seeking justice for what happened to Paloma.
The video of the song linking the two has been seen by tens of thousands of viewers, and the discussion has spread across the Philippine society, particularly among young people.
Pepsi Paloma was born Delia Smith, born to Lydia Duenas, a native of Borac, and Kenneth Smith, an American letter carrier who deserted his four children and their mother when the children were young.
Pepsi was a rising star at the time, having secured a lead role in an upcoming movie.
But she, according to her story, met de Leon, Sotto, and fellow comedian Richie D'Horsey while promoting one of her movies, and they allegedly drugged her at a bar then gang raped her in a hotel room.
Because prosecution of a crime in the Philippines required a private prosecutor, Pepsi sought the help of then-Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile, who referred her to Rene Cayetano, the senior partner in the ACCRA law firm, according to the Inquirer.
The comedians would have faced the death penalty if convicted of rape.
But Senator Tito Sotto, the younger brother of Vic, didn’t want his brother to be killed. So he went to see Pepsi and allegedly coerced her into signing an affidavit that dropped the rape complaint.
“Paloma eventually dropped the charges after she was allegedly visited by one of the trio who said he had only talked with her, but only after placing a pistol on the table in front of her,” according to an Inquirer reporter who investigated what happened.
So the comedians escaped charges even though they went down on their knees on their show “Eat Bulaga” and asked Paloma’s forgiveness for raping her.
Three years after the rape Pepsi was found dead in her apartment, with the police concluding that she committed suicide because of financial problems.
However, her manager Babette Corcuerra insisted that she was doing fine at the time.
“She was earning well and was fully booked for dancing performances. She just finished the Pepsi Paloma Show at the Bughaw and 10 other beerhouses,” Corcuerra said, and she had three film offers lined up, she added.
Corcuerra implied that Pepsi was murdered.
“She was looking forward to celebrating her 18th birthday next year. She made me promise to throw a big party for her at a hotel because it would be her debut,” Corcuerra told the Times Journal.
The Inquirer said: “Was she murdered? Before he passed away, in an interview on ABS-CBN that was not aired, self-confessed hitman Kit Mateo intimated as much.”
Pepsi would have celebrated her 47th birthday this year if she were alive.
