Former GMA artist Gerald Santos finally revealed his story after more than a decade of silence on why he decided to leave the network.
In his video, Gerald said that he only spoke about the issue after hearing the case of Sandro Muhlach, who filed a complaint against two head writers of GMA Network.
Gerald was thankful that social media now existed to help people who were treated badly by powerful people have a voice and air their complaints.
He also criticized the people who told him to move on, saying they were why new artists were afraid to share their experiences.
According to him, his career almost ended after he bravely made a rare move to complain about the acts done to him by a musical director. However, with the help of his manager, he found a new way to share his craft: becoming a theater actor.
The singer then encouraged new artists not to sacrifice their dignity in exchange to having a good career, saying that they must trust their charisma and talent to find new opportunities.
“Despite na ako ay walang network nakaya ko po na makapag-stay sa industriya, ‘yun po ‘yung naging prinsipyo ko at that time kaya hindi ako pumayag sa gusto nitong tao na ‘to na gumawa ng hindi maganda sakin,” said Gerald.
“Dahil ako po ay naniniwala sa aking po kakayanan, sa aking talento even at that early age,” he added.
GERALD GIVES CLUE ABOUT THE IDENTITY OF THE SAID MUSICAL DIRECTOR
Gerald narrated that when he got a huge break and became a theater actor, the said musical director sent a message to congratulate him on his new achievement.
“Nakarating sakin sa isang close friend na singer na kino-congratulate kami, kasi etong friend ko ay nakapasok din. Ang sabi nitong taong ito ‘congratulations parin daw sakin kahit napakasakit ng ginawa ko sa kanya,’ ang masasabi ko lang sayo, ang kapal ng mukha mo para sabihin ‘yan,” said Gerald.
“Alam mo sana kapag nagkaharap uli tayo, look me straight in my eyes at i-deny mo ‘yung mga pinaggagawa mo sakin, i-deny mo na hindi ito nangyari. I wish you good, Diyos nalang ang bahala sa’yo, sana mapatawad ka ng Diyos sa mga ginawa mo sakin at kung may iba pang biktima, sana mapatawad ka, pinapagpasa-Diyos na kita,” he added.
The singer claimed that the musical director who attempted to take advantage of him had a friend with a high position on the GMA Network.
“Eto pong taong ito na mataas ang katungkulan dito sa network na kaibigan nitong taong gumawa hindi maganda sakin ay sobrang galit na galit parin up to now kaya ako po ay basically parang banned po dito sa network,” he said.
“Hindi po talaga magkaroon ng guestings, kahit anong show, hindi po ako makapasok sa network because of this person,” he added.
Gerald urged his colleagues in the industry to stop tolerating powerful people from taking advantage of them and quickly informed the public about it.
“Hindi na po ito ‘yung panahon na wala tayong boses, now we have social media, we have the power of the people, we have the power of public opinion,” he stated.