He carps crap a number of times on some issues in the community but no
one really bothers. He thinks silence is a justification to smear
people, and so a guy named "ronniekcarpio at gmail" mounts an attack on well-meaning picketers demanding justice for the alleged gang-rape by Vic Sotto, Joey de Leon and Richie Reyes, hosts of Eat Bulaga show, of a 14-year-old girl named Pepsi Paloma in 1982. Behind that "ronniekcarpio"
monicker, according to friends, is a small-time disc jockey who is very
much older than the university-educated people he calls "dirty old
men". People who know him say he's a "lapdog" of a couple involved in
controversies about money.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
DEFENDING THE ALLEGED "EAT BULAGA" RAPISTS
'Ronnie Carpio' -- The Toronto Lapdog That Carps Crap
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC) and Reporters Without Borders
" . . . by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." - Matthew
T ORONTO
- It was a shot in the dark when I responded to this internet poster
with the email address of "ronniekcarpio at gmail" and called him a
marionette. It turns out I hit a bull's eye.
I
initially searched the web and it was fruitless; the guy had nothing of
importance to his name. His community activities were limited to a
nickel-and-dime business disc-jockeying for private parties with his
wife.
That
way he gets to spend weekends, and some weekdays too, practically
without spending a penny, for with his job comes a free meal, and in
some occasions, he earns extra dough signing up for lessons those
hopeless to learn dance steps.
The
guy, "an old fart" as a friend describes him, had aroused my interest
after a series of postings in Fil-Am Forum, one of the Yahoo groups of
which he and I obviously belong. I'm a member only because it affords me
to reach out to Filipinos in other areas.
I remember enlisting at a time I was being attacked for my stories by detractors similarly motivated as this "ronniekcarpio at gmail" and I had no means to fight back unless I join in. So I did.
Even when I'm already in, I had zero interaction with other members as I limit myself to posting my
stories and commentaries from wherever I am. And the latest of those
stories was about the live performance in Toronto of the cast of Eat
Bulaga.
If
not for the alleged gang-rape of Pepsi Paloma by Eat Bulaga hosts Vic Sotto,
Joey de Leon and Richie Reyes (now a desaparecido?) in 1982, the program
would not have attracted my attention. I know many people like it for
its folksy appeal but for me, I view it as imbecilic.
But
Sotto and De Leon are still there and were coming to Toronto to perform
with the whole cast, including Tito Sotto, now a senator in the
Philippines, who also figured in the rape case as the person who
allegedly manipulated the victim after the act was consummated.
As
a journalist, it is unpardonable to ignore the story, given its
background and the fact that the partners in crime would be in our own
backyard and make us pay a hefty sum to entertain the community with
their silly antics. Simply stated, the big story was coming our way.
Not
one to miss it, I went to Sony Centre, the downtown venue, not to watch
the show but to try -- regardless of how vainly it was -- to film them,
or ask them questions about the rape, or how they managed to evade
justice all this past 32 years.
Besides,
a group of concerned citizens was staging a protest rally demanding
justice for Pepsi Paloma, and rejecting the presence of alleged and
supposedly-confessed rapists in the persons of Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon.
The
two-timing, bald-headed father of five, Wally Bayola, was there too;
he, made famous by his 6:14 minute video of his sexual intercourse with
Eat Bulaga dancer Yosh Rivera. And, of course, the current flame of the
alleged rapist Vic Sotto, 24-year-old Pauleen Luna. also a dancer.
All
these are elements that made an explosive story. Most of the media in
Toronto didn't see it that way; what they saw was the entertainment the
show offered. It's a judgment that reflected how Filipino newspapers
are filled with.
When
my story came out on Sunday -- that's after doing all the videos about
the protest on Saturday afternoon -- one of the reactions came from "ronniekcarpio
at gmail", a nondescript person who, friends say, is a jerk, a loser,
an aging Filipino Elvis Presley, an incompetent dance instructor and,
most revealing of all, an "Enverga lapdog".
Holy
moly! The last verbal description suits him well as it matches his
perverted reaction - drawing interest away from Eat Bulaga and the rape
stories, and highlighting his personal attacks against the protesters
and myself, to shield his masters.
It's a classic diversion. In the attempt, however, "ronniekcarpio at gmail" forgot that he's vulnerable to a response more brutal than he could imagine.
He smears the protesters like he was an Adonis, and judging them as "mostly
Dirty Old Man looking citizens and some fat or healthy housewives who
have nothing better to do that day or maybe hoping to get a free tickets
to enter the concert".
He
neglected to say that in the ranks of the protesters were respectable
men and women -- a lawyer, an educator, a geologist, a chemist, an
accountant, a teacher, a businessman, a newspaper publisher and editor,
an entrepreneur. In other words, they're educated.
The fact is "ronniekcarpio at gmail" is older than the protesters. All his senior life, he
had been so used to getting freebies to the point that he ascribes that
spontaneous protest picket as a pressure to gain entry to the show for
free! What a nonsense!
Why
was this small-time DJ denigrating them? I believe he's doing a hatchet
job on behalf of friends and occasional employers. And his
identification as an "Enverga lapdog" tells it all.
Eat
Bulaga did have a connection with the Envergas, Tobias Jr. and wife
Rosemer; he through his Philippine-Canadian Charitable Foundation and
she, through her employer GMA Network, the home studio of Eat Bulaga.
Without
their blessings, Eat Bulaga would not have been promoted heavily in
PCCF and in its social media sites. Rosemer Enverga and her team from
PCCF were the proud welcomers at the airport when the Eat Bulaga
retinue planed in Wednesday evening from Manila.
When
the Pepsi Paloma rape story initially broke in Toronto, not many people
thought about its relevance to the Eat Bulaga show on April 12. The
Envergas were among its proponents. They probably didn't realize that
the alleged gang-rape would significantly change people's perceptions of the
program and of main hosts Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon.
Adding
fuel to a raging fire was the still-steaming sex video between co-host
Wally Bayola and dancer Yosh Rivera, who are both with Eat Bulaga. What a
family!
The
rape, the sex video, the low quality entertainment and questionable
ways of some of its performers have all given Eat Bulaga an unpleasant
image as a family entertainment. Any woman, much less a 14-year-old girl
like Pepsi Paloma, could be helpless victim of gang-rape.
And
the Envergas have three daughters. They seemed to have set aside that
fact as they lent their approval to Eat Bulaga in Toronto, starring
alleged rapists Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon. And the alleged sex perfomer Wally Bayola.
That is the context of why "ronniekcarpio at gmail"
is referred to as an "Enverga lapdog". He and his masters would rather
close their eyes to attacks on women than lose some moments of rotten
laughter.
(This Currents & Breaking News
may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted upon request by interested
parties. Permission by the author or the editor must be obtained before
any re-posting online or re-publication in print or re-broadcast.
Copyright by Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village
Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 8, Issue no. 22, April 15, 2014. Email at: TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com, or PhilVoiceNews@aol.com). Website: http://web.photodex.com/create/?watch-m4gw2bm4
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