Photo credit: Senate PH

Actor-singer Gerald Santos has tagged veteran musical director Danny Tan as the person who raped him when he was just 15 years old.

"Ngayon po ay handa ko na pong harapin ang tunay kong kalaban , ang nanghalay at nang abuso sa akin noong ako po ay 15 years old pa lamang ay si Mr. Danny Tan."

(I am now ready to face my real enemy. The person who raped and abused me when I was just 15 years old is Mr. Danny Tan.)

Santos made the revelation before the Senate committee on public information and mass media.

The now 33-year old singer said the rape happened on December 25 and 26 in 2005 when he was just a 15-year old contestant in a singing contest on GMA.

He noted that he identified Tan in his complaint to the TV network back in 2010.

The singer told the committee that his career was negatively affected when he decided to report the abuse he suffered.

He also revealed that his experience pushed him to try to kill himself four times.

“Dahil sa matinding kahihiyan na maari kong maranasan kapag nalaman ito ng lahat. Dahil sa pandidiri sa sarili ko na ginawan ako ng ganito.Dahil alam ko po sa sarili ko na wala na akong magagawa at walang makikinig sa akin.

Kaya pinilit ko itong burahin sa puso’t isipan ko dahil din sa matinding takot na kapag binalikan ako ng taong umabuso sa akin ay hindi ko na maipagpatuloy pa ang pag-abot sa aking mga pangarap para sa aking pamilya at sa huli ay madamay pa sila, he said."

(Because of the intense shame I might experience if everyone finds out about this. Because of the disgust I feel towards myself for being treated this way. Because I know that I can't do anything about it and no one will listen to me.

I forced myself to forget what happened because of the intense fear that, if the person who abused me managed to get back at me, I won’t be able to continue pursuing my dreams for my family, and in the end, they might be affected as well.)

Santos said they are currently studying his legal options for the possibility of filing charges against the musical director and has requested a copy of the result of GMA"s investigation 19 years ago. He said they plan to use this for their case build-up.