Image: Facebook/Gerald Santos
Gerald Santos responded to GMA’s statement in which the network said his present claims differ from his submitted 2010 complaint, with the singer making clarifications through “receipts.”
GMA earlier issued a statement addressing Santos’ confession that he was raped by an ex-GMA musical director when he was 15.
In the statement, the network pointed out that Santos’ recent testimony – which he gave during the hearing of the Senate committee on public information and mass media – contrasted with his 2010 claims regarding his “early release.” The network further noted that his initial complaint differed from the rape claims he mentioned at the hearing.
“Para lang sa kalinawan matapos ang official statement ng GMA, uulitin ko po na nagpapa-release ako sa GMA Artist Center. Bilang manager ko po that time ay tila wala na silang plano sa akin at walang mga projects na naka-line up para sa akin,” Santos said through his Facebook page on Monday, Aug. 19.
Santos supported his statement with a photo of his 2010 letter addressed to Atty. Felipe Gozon, the network’s CEO at the time, wherein the singer asked to be released from his contract since GMA “could not provide work for [him] in [times] of crises.”
Santos also showed a photo of the letter his manager addressed to Gozon in 2011, in which the singer’s camp asked for the official resolution of the case “to achieve a closure to this incident.”
“The prize for standing up for the truth has been very ugly for Gerald in his former home network whose battlecry has been ‘walang kinikilingan, walang pinoprotektahan, walang kasinungalingan, serbisyong totoo lamang,” Santos’ manager further wrote at the time.
Santos said he and his camp did not receive a response for this.
“Hindi po GMA Network ang kalaban ko kundi ‘yung mga tao na galit sa akin sa loob ng GMA dahil sa pagsusumbong ko at ayaw akong bigyan ng trabaho nung mga panahong ‘yun,” Santos continued in his recent Facebook post.
“Lumipat po ako sa TV5 dahil may trabahong naghihintay sa’kin du’n at tatanggapin lamang nila ako kung may release papers. Pero kung sinagot po nila ang aking kahilingan na mabigyan ng trabaho ay hindi po ako aalis dahil sa simula at simula ay isa akong Kapuso,” he stressed.
Santos also underscored that the termination of the musical director from GMA proved that there was “probable cause.” Concluding his post, the singer added the hashtag “resibo.”
‘Harshest penalty’
GMA has yet to comment on the singer’s latest statement as of this writing, but a source from the network who asked not to be named but who is privy to the case, claimed that as soon as Santos filed his complaint in February 2010, the network had already terminated his alleged assailant by July of that year after a “thorough investigation.”
The source further claimed the musical director’s termination was considered the “harshest penalty” that GMA could impose, thus, should not be compared to a penalty that a court of law may foist on a crime suspect in a legal case. “Unlike a court of law, GMA lacks the authority to enforce criminal penalties.”
The source further said that Santos had requested to be “released from his contract with GMA and moved to TV5 that same year, even while the investigation was still ongoing.”