Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said he is confident that Inquirer.net will take the articles written about him and his alleged involvement in the rape of late actress Pepsi Paloma.
Last week, US-based columnist Rodel Rodis shared of Facebook the letter that Sotto sent to Inquirer.net asking the media company to take down its articles titled, “The Rape of Pepsi Paloma”, “Was Pepsi Paloma Murdered?”, and “Tito Sotto Denies Whitewashing Pepsi Paloma Rape Case”.
The three articles talk about Paloma’s controversial death in 1985 and the multiple speculations behind it.
Paloma’s death continues to be one of the greatest “mystery” in Philippine show business. Many reports confirmed that Paloma took her own life on May 31, 1985. However, there are also claims, saying that the actress-dancer was allegedly drugged and raped three years before her death.
However, the senate president that the mentioned articles are fake news that is why Inquirer.Net should remove them from their website.
“They will. Because it’s fake news, it’s original fake news,” Sotto told reporters.
The National Union of Journalist of the Philippines (NUJP) released a statement following Sotto’s request. NUJP denounced Sotto for his “brazen attempt to suppress freedom of the press and of expression.”
However, Sotto defended himself saying that NUJP is unaware of of the issue.
“Hindi nila alam ang story, kausapin nila Inquirer… Ibig mo bang sabihin kapag sinabi kong ‘yung mga taong naninira, binabayaran, freedom of the press din ‘yun? Hindi. Original fake news,” he added.
Moreover, Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel said in an interview with CNN Philippines that he supports Sotto in his attempt to clear his name.
“There must be a way for someone who is affected by an opinion especially available in a popular website like the Inquirer. This person should be allowed to request deletion of the said articles painting him in a negative light,” Pimintel said.
Inquirer.net has released an official statement as a reply to Sotto’s letter.
“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,” Abelardo Ulanday, publisher and editor-in-chief of Inquirer.net, wrote.
