“Eat Bulaga” host and Philippine senator Vicente Sotto III, popularly known as Tito Sotto, is facing the pique of netizens.
It has started when the senator needled Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo for having two daughters outside marriage.
Sotto brought up Sec Judy’s status as a solo parent during her confirmation hearing before the Commission on Appointments.
Surprisingly, Tito blurted out, “In the street language, when you have children and you are single, ang tawag doon ay ‘na-ano lang.’”
Several people in the room laughed at Tito’s remarks while Sec Judy merely pursed her lips.
Hours after the controversial remark, keywords such as “Tito Sotto” and “Pepsi” immediately became one of the trending topics in Twitter Philippines, with the former being the number 1 topic.
By checking the “Pepsi” keyword, a topic about the late starlet Pepsi Paloma could be read in each of Pinoy netizens’ tweets.
Moreover, netizens made sure that it was really a Wayback Wednesday.
Who is Pepsi Paloma?
Delia Smith in real life, Pepsi was a Filipino-American actress who became one of the “soft drink” beauties in the 80s.
In 1982, she lodge a rape case against Tito’s fellow hosts Joey de Leon, brother Vic Sotto and the late Richie D’Horsie. The rape case, however, was settled out of court.
According to some reports, Pepsi claimed that she was coerced to sign the affidavit of desistance by Tito to drop the case, which had a punishment of death. Reports say that Joey, Vic and Richie admitted guilt and made a public apology to Pepsi.
Sen. Tito Sotto finally speaks up about the Pepsi Paloma issue; says, “It was a Gimmick.”
In 1985, Pepsi shocked the showbiz industry when she hanged herself to death. It is believed until now that the suicide was because of the forgotten rape case.