MANILA, Philippines – Singer-actor Gerald Santos revealed to the public for the first time that he was raped by a former musical director of GMA Network when he was a minor – almost two decades ago.
Santos made the statement during the Monday, August 19 hearing of the Senate committee on public information and mass media. The committee has launched an investigation into the cases of sexual abuse in the entertainment industry.
“Ako po ay hindi na-harass, hindi po na-abuse. Ako po ay na-rape,” he said. (I wasn’t just harassed or abused. I was raped.) The Pinoy Pop Superstar alum said that while he’s willing to go into detail about what happened, he’s afraid that the unnamed musical director will retaliate.
Santos disclosed that the incident happened in 2005 when he was just only 15 years old and a contestant of a talent search competition.
“Wala po akong lakas ng loob noon,” he said. “For 19 years, kineep ko lang po ito dahil sa takot, sa kahihiyan.” (I didn’t have the guts back then. I kept it as a secret for 19 years because of fear of reprisal and shame.)
The singer added that when he initially tried to complain about his abuser, his claims were dismissed and he was told to just merely “move on.” He said that he only get to file an internal complaint in 2010 but found no clear resolution on his case.
Santos said that while the musical director was eventually terminated by GMA, he believes that the colleagues of his alleged perpetrator inside the network retaliated against him.
“‘Yung musical director na ito po ay connected po sa mga ibang executives sa loob kaya ako po ay napag-initinan… After ko po magreklamo, kahit naalis na po siya, natanggal din po ako sa GMA,” he said. (That musical director was connected to other executives inside the network, that’s why I got targeted. After I complained and he was terminated, I was also removed from the network.)
When asked by Senator Jinggoy Estrada if he’d still like to press charges, the theater actor said that he would’ve done that long ago if he only wasn’t concerned about his safety and career.
Estrada then asked a resource person from the Department of Justice (DOJ) if Santos can still pursue legal action given the considerable amount of time that has passed since the alleged crime. The representative from DOJ said that while heinous crimes such as rape has ideally a 20-year prescription period, the law might be more lenient with Santos since he was a minor when the alleged crime happened.
Santos recently took to social media to sympathize with GMA actor Sandro Muhlach, who filed a rape complaint against two GMA independent contractors, Jojo Nones and Richard Cruz.
The singer said that he was “once in in this situation but back then, wala kang boses, walang social media (you have no voice, no social media.)”
“Nagbalik ang sakit sa akin at hindi ko maiwasan maluha to imagine ang sinapit niya,” he added. (I remember all the pain I felt and I can’t help but get emotional imagining what he went through.)
“But I will hold my head up high for standing up amidst tremendous pressure to just let go of what happened. I hope he gets the justice I was once denied of,” he wrote. – Rappler.com