MANILA — A Muntinlupa regional trial court has denied the motions filed by the camps of director Darryl Yap and veteran actor Vic Sotto over their legal feud on the controversial trailer of the movie “The Rapists of Pepsi Paloma.”
In an order dated January 14, Muntinlupa RTC branch 205 presiding judge Liezel Aquiatan denied Yap’s motion for immediate consolidation of the petition for writ of habeas data and the criminal complaint filed by Sotto.
Sotto initially filed the writ in a bid to take down the materials related to controversial film, the trailer of which named him as an alleged perpetrator. He then filed a criminal complaint for 19 counts of cyber libel against Yap.
The court rejected Yap’s argument to merge the 2 cases, noting that “the motion for immediate consolidation is devoid of merit.”
“The two legal actions are inherently distinct in nature, purpose, jurisdiction, and procedure.”
The judge explained that habeas data proceedings are governed by its own rules, while cyber libel complaints follow the procedural rules under the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure.
“The petition and the criminal complaint are pending before distinct forums and are governed by separate procedural frameworks. Thus, consolidation is legally impermissible… Each case must proceed independently within its respective forum,” Aquiatan said.
While the court had issued the writ, it later clarified that it was not yet the takedown order Sotto’s camp “mistakenly” interpreted.
Meanwhile, the judge also denied Sotto’s motion to issue a show cause order against Yap over a post that supposedly defied their gag order.
“Upon review of the respondent’s actions, it appears that the respondent’s post merely reiterates the Court’s directives with minor deviations. Nonetheless, the respondent is reminded of the gag order and is sternly warned that any future violations will result in severe consequences,” the judge said.
Aquiatan gave a go signal to the January 15 preliminary hearing and said that the summary hearing set on January 17 would proceed as well.
The case stemmed from what Sotto described as “malicious and defamatory statements” involved in the first teaser of Yap’s film “The Rapists of Pepsi Paloma.”
It was posted January 1 and immediately went viral after mentioning Sotto and connecting him to the late ’80s star Pepsi Paloma. (J. E. Villaruel, abs-cbn news)
