Enzo Almario, a member of the now-defunct pre-teen musical group Sugarpop, alleged that he was also sexually abused by musical director Danny Tan when he was only 12 years old.
Almario disclosed this in a YouTube video uploaded by singer Gerald Santos, who alleged during a Senate hearing on sexual abuses done in the entertainment industry that Tan sexually abused him when he was only 15 years old.
In the YouTube channel of Gerald Santos, he stated that Almario reached out to him to disclose a similar unfortunate experience with the musical director.
But it took Almario some time to go public because “hindi po biro ‘yung pinagdaanan niya. Sa kanya nga po multiple times — ang dami po.”
Santos added that Almario was also much younger than he was at the time of the alleged abuse. “Magkakasama kami noon sa GMA at siya po ay miyembro ng Sugarpop na mina-manage nitong si Danny Tan.”
Following the release of their chat in YouTube, Almario posted in Facebook to say that 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. I was raped and deceived by the same person who also raped Kuya Gerald.”
In a succeeding post, Almario called for those who were abused to free themselves by speaking up.
“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 said, 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.”
This is not the first time someone in a position of power allegedly abused those trying to break into the entertainment industry – e.g. Jojo Veloso and Vic Fabe.
Santos and Almario are considering their legal options to pursue a case against Tan, who have been quiet on this issue.
