An afternoon television variety show is the last place to go to for political correctness. Nevertheless, there are some things they do there that still shock many of us.
On Sat, Jul 9, a contestant on Eat Bulaga related on live national TV how one of her husband’s friends once took sexual advantage of her while she was drunk.
Instead of empathizing with the rape victim, Senator Tito Sotto and his co-host Jose Manalo turned the tables and blamed it on her.
“Ang may kasalanan ng lahat na iyan ay yung pag-inom. Yung pa-shot shot. Kababae mong tao, shot shot shot ka,” said Sotto. (“What’s to blame here is the alcohol. What kind of woman takes alcoholic shots?”)
“Umiinom ka na, naka-shorts ka pa (You already knew you were going out for drinking but you chose to wear revealing shorts),” volleyed Manalo who, upon Sotto’s prodding, rolled up his right pant leg up to his crotch to demonstrate just how revealing the shorts may have been.
Netizen warriors immediately call out the hosts on their comments, saying they were victim-blaming and promoting rape culture.
“Tito Sotto is the kind of gross creature you wish you never have to encounter in your life,” tweeted Mikhail Quijano.
Facebook user Aubrey Baggay asked, “Soooo if you’re wearing shorts, you’re already asking for ‘it’? Wow, that logic makes me want to hit them with a table.”
Still, some observers found it ironic how the senator was able to make a rape-related joke, as his brother was once alleged to be involved in the gang rape of Pepsi Paloma, an actress, in 1982
Paloma had claimed that Vic Sotto, together with his fellow comedians Joey de Leon and Richie D’Horsey, “took her out to a bar, drugged her, and then gang raped her in a hotel room. (Because she was only 14 at the time, these comedians were pedophile rapists.),” according to Philippine Daily Inquirer.
She withdrew her case against the three, reportedly after a visit from Tito Sotto.
“In her November 3, 2012 column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Rina Jimenez David described this incident as follows: ‘Paloma eventually dropped the charges after she was allegedly visited by one of the trio who said he had only talked with her, but only after placing a pistol on the table in front of her,'” according to the Inquirer report.
In March this year, Sotto dismissed the Pepsi Paloma rape case as a “gimmick” during a radio interview.
