Gerald Santos (left) and Sandro Muhlach | Image: Instagram/@thegeraldsantos, @sandromuhlach
(Trigger warning: mentions of sexual assault)
Singer Gerald Santos expressed his sympathy for Sandro Muhlach as he recalled that he was once also a victim of sexual abuse and hoped that the latter would “get the justice he was denied then.”
Santos took to his social media pages to share that he felt like he was transported back to a painful past after knowing what happened to Muhlach.
“Ang dami nagmemessage, nagta-tag sa akin (a lot of people are messaging and tagging me) about this issue. Nagbalik ang sakit sa akin at hindi ko maiwasan maluha to imagine ang sinapit. nya (The pain returned to me, and I couldn’t help but cry while imagining what happened to him). My heart goes to Sandro and the whole Muhlach family,” he wrote in his caption.
The “Pinoy Pop Superstar” alum underscored that social media can play a role now in dealing with sensitive cases like this, hoping Muhlach will get the justice he deserves.
“I was once in this situation, but back then, wala kang boses (you didn’t have a voice), walang social media (there was no social media). Unlike ngayon na nagkaroon na ng (now there’s already a) #MeToo movement, I will hold my head high for standing up amidst tremendous pressure to just let go of what happened. I hope he gets the justice I was once denied,” he stressed.
In an interview with PEP in 2012, Santos revealed that he experienced sexual harassment at the hands of a musical director connected to a singing contest he joined under GMA-7 in 2010.
“Wala na po, actually administrative case lang po kasi iyon. So, sa loob lang po inayos, ganun po yung nangyari,” he said, adding that there was no formal case filed.
(It’s gone; it’s actually just an administrative case. So, it was fixed inside; that’s what happened.)
“Kumbaga, magtatanim lang po kami ng sama ng loob. Ang iniisip lang namin nung panahon na yun, move on with my career,” he continued.
(Apparently, we would only be harboring ill-feelings. All we were thinking at that time was to move on with my career.)
Santos also said that his perpetrator wasn’t removed from his position at that time.
Meanwhile, Sandro, the son of former child star Niño Muhlach, has sought the help of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) following the alleged sexual abuse by GMA’s independent contractors, Jojo Nones and Richard Cruz.