Eat Bulaga host Vic Sotto’s camp asked Director Darryl Yap to pay up to P35-M in damages after the latter involved the comedian in his movie about the late actress Pepsi Paloma.
Sotto was accompanied by his lawyers from DivinaLaw on January 9, 2025, to file 19 counts of cyber libel against Yap before the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court.
The complaint included a prayer of ₱20M for moral damages and ₱15M for exemplary damages.
The damages may increase depending on Sotto’s endorsement contracts, which would be impacted by the issue.
In an interview, Sotto said he has nothing personal against Yap, but he wanted irresponsible people on social media to be held accountable for their actions.
“Sa mga taong nagtatanong, sa aking mga kaibigan, kapamilya, a lot of people have been asking me ‘anong reaksyon mo?’ eto na po ‘yun […] eto na po ‘yung reaksyon ko,” said Sotto.
“Sabi ko nga e, walang personalan ito, I just trust in our justice system, ako ay laban sa mga iresponsable tao lalo na sa social media,” he added.
Meanwhile, Atty. Buko dela Cruz of DivinaLaw said that Yap could not hide behind artistic freedom, saying that every artist has freedom of expression unless their creation would be libelous.
“You know, we are the product of the choices we made,” said Atty. Dela Cruz. “Walang proteksyon na ibinibigay ang batas sa libel, so hindi mo pwedeng gamitin ang creative license bilang depensa sa libel,”
“Malaya tayong magpahayag, malaya tayong gumawa ng pelikula and exemption lang [ay] wag kang gagawa ng libelous,” he added.