Danny Tan accused of rape by another musician

Enzo Almario and Gerald Santos, the alleged sexual abuse victims of Danny Tan. Image: screengrab from YouTube/Gerald Santos

Enzo Almario, one of the members of the now-defunct pre-teen musical group Sugarpop, spoke up on the alleged sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of musical director Danny Tan when the former was just 12 years old.

Almario came forward through a YouTube video with singer Gerald Santos, who earlier revealed Tan as his alleged sexual abuser.

In the video shared on Thursday, Sept 12, Santos said Almario reached out to him and disclosed a similar unfortunate experience with the musical director.

“Siya po ay mas bata pa sa akin. Magkakasama kami noon sa GMA at siya po ay miyembro ng Sugarpop na mina-manage nitong si Danny Tan,” Santos said.

“Nung lumabas po ako, nagkaroon daw sa kanya ng sign si Lord, ng green light na siya ang lumantad na rin,” he continued. “Dahil hindi na rin po makayanan ng kanyang konsensya na hayaan na lang ang mga nangyayaring ganito.”

Santos noted that Almario already gave testimony about the abuse that transpired in 2008. Santos stated that the latter’s father also got in touch with him to reveal further victims of Tan.

“It took some time bago lumabas si Enzo dahil hindi po biro ‘yung pinagdaanan niya. Sa kanya nga po multiple times—ang dami po,” Santos lamented, but opted not to expound.

Almario then expressed his gratitude to Santos for being the first to come forward, and subsequently urged other sexual abuse victims to speak up.

Their legal counsel, who was with them in the video, then stressed that they would take the necessary steps to put a stop to Tan’s alleged abuses.

‘No longer afraid’

Almario then shared Santos’ video in a Facebook Story, with the former saying he is no longer afraid to speak up about the alleged abuse.

“It took me a while to finally take action on this issue, but now I am no longer afraid and I shouldn’t be the one living in fear,” he said. “I was raped and deceived by the same person who also raped Kuya Gerald.”

Image: Facebook/Enzo Almario

In a succeeding post, Almario also addressed those reaching out to him and lamented how he is still “struggling to find the right words or feelings to respond.”

“I’m also in an indescribably uneasy place after writing down everything that happened, from start to finish. Reliving those moments feels like I’m back in that powerless, deceived state, and with the understanding I have now, it’s impossible not to get emotional,” he said.

“To anyone else who was a victim of this person, speak up and free yourself. This wasn’t our fault; HE TOOK ADVANTAGE OF OUR INNOCENCE,” he continued, referring to Tan. “I sincerely hope [to] get justice, not just for ourselves, but for the potential victims he may be targeting and everyone he already preyed on.”