No Feb. 5 cinema premiere for Pepsi Paloma film - Darryl Yap

Metro Manila, Philippines – The film featuring the controversial life of late actress Pepsi Paloma in the 1980s will not hit theaters as scheduled, said its director.

In a Facebook post, Darryl Yap announced that they were not able to complete the requirements asked by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB).

"Bigo po ang panig ng inyong lingkod na agarang makumpleto ang mga dokumentong hinihingi ng pamunuan ng MTRCB," said Yap.

[Translation: I was unable to immediately complete the documents required by the MTRCB leadership.]

"Kaya't imposible pong maipalabas sa mga sinehan ang ating pelikula sa February 5," he added.

[Translation: So it will be impossible for our film to be shown in cinemas on February 5.]

Yap said he is considering premiering the film outside the Philippines or through streaming platforms.

In a separate comment, he said a number of films are also scheduled to premiere in February and March.

"Puno na rin kasi ang February at March, pero makakahanap lang kami ng available screening dates once ok na ang hinihinging karagdagang documents," he said.

[Translation: February and March are already full, but we will find available screening dates once the additional required documents are approved.]

The MTRCB previously said its registration unit could not accept materials from Pinoyflix, the film distributor, over incomplete requirements.

“To set the record straight, the MTRCB registration unit could not accept the materials submitted by the representative of Pinoyflix because the legal affairs division required the distributor to provide three specific requirements, such as a Certificate or Clearance of No Pending Criminal, Civil, or Administrative Case from the Regional Trial Court, the Department of Justice, and the Office of the City Prosecutor,” the agency said.

The MTRCB said its legal affairs division formally communicated with the distributor regarding the requirements.

The agency warned that it “will not tolerate any misinformation or false narrative” and “any attempt to deliberately mislead the public will be dealt with in accordance with the law.”

The film’s teaser sparked controversy after tagging actor and TV host Vic Sotto in the rape case of Paloma, prompting him to file a cyberlibel complaint against Yap.

Recently, the court ordered the director to take down the 26-second teaser video from online platforms “for having misused the collected data/information by presenting a conversation between two deceased individuals, which cannot be verified as having actually occurred.”

However, it allowed Yap to continue the production and release of the film.