(First of two parts)

It sounds like a soap opera.

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She was a young dreamer who had yearned to become a Regal Baby. Born to a Filipino mother and an American serviceman, she was quite tall for her age.

In 1983, she traveled from Olongapo to Manila to audition for a talent search. When she arrived on the set, the director ordered her to take off her clothes. She was mortified. She was only 12.

Actress Maureen Mauricio has since moved on from that traumatic incident which she recalled in a 2013 interview with the Inquirer, reinventing herself from sexy starlet to character actress, and working steadily in various TV shows and movies through the years.

But the fact that no one landed in jail for that clear case of exploitation was not lost on her.

Years later, a colleague told her that she could’ve sued her ex-manager for child abuse. “I cut ties with him after only seven months. I guess he let me go after realizing his mistake,” she recalled.

Other starry-eyed wannabes were not as lucky, though.

Not a few show biz newcomers have continued to suffer in silence and ended up blaming themselves for the abuse they had experienced in pursuit of stardom.

Ripe for a change

The exploiters and harassers have remained entrenched in the industry, occupying positions of power that enable them to perpetrate their crimes.

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But times were ripe for a change and last year, it happened.

After The New York Times and The New Yorker published their investigations on cases of sexual misconduct in Hollywood, the accusations against mogul Harvey Weinstein finally gained traction and forced him out of Miramax, the studio he had controlled for almost four decades.

The media flurry turned the spotlight on a long list of sexual assault survivors who, in turn, unmasked a longer list of alleged serial molesters—which included the likes of Oscar winner Kevin Spacey and box-office director Brett Rattner (“Rush Hour,” “Hercules,” “X-men,” “Red Dragon,” etc.)

The revelations also got the local entertainment industry asking: Will the suddenly visible problem of sexual predators in Hollywood, which crystallized into the #MeToo and TimesUp movements, ever happen in the Philippines?

Well after all, South Korea, a more conservative society when it comes to women, was recently rocked by a wave of harassment accusations—specifically, against directors Kim Ki-duk and actors Jo Jae-hyun and Oh Dal-su.

Early this month, actor Jo Min-ki died in an apparent suicide after being accused of a string of sexual misdeeds.

Innuendos, blind items

Locally, a smattering of reports of sexual harassment and exploitation have surfaced in the wake of the Weinstein scandal—most prominently involving rock musicians and a club promoter/deejay.

Other reports of sexual abuse, however, have yet to emerge from the shadows of innuendoes and blind items—primarily because no new legal cases have been filed as of press time.

As Mauricio’s recollection clearly illustrates, local show biz history is rife with stories of abuse and exploitation, with tales of the vaunted “casting couch” serving as grist for the rumor mill.

But no one is talking—especially not the survivors. Though sexual exploitation in show biz has become an open secret, very few survivors have filed a case against their abusers.

“Rape is psychologically very complex due to the shame culture here,” actress-host Kat Alano told the Inquirer. “Many survivors prefer to remain silent rather than face the painful backlash. We did not choose to be raped; someone chose to do it to us, yet we are the ones who are blamed.”

Alano was only 19 and a newcomer, not only in show business, but in the Philippines, when a colleague, “a dancer-comedian,” abused her.

“I met him through work,” she recounted. “We were hanging out at a bar and he drugged my drink. He raped me in my own apartment after I was rendered unconscious in the hallway.”

Alone and afraid

Complaining against her abuser seemed out of the question. “I was told by a friend that if I spoke up about it, I would never work again,” she said. “I was alone in Manila and afraid,” said Alano, whose father was in China while her mother was based in Hong Kong at that time.

She even received a death threat, recalled the singer-songwriter.

“I was terrified. I was told that it would only take one bullet to the head to shut me up. I went into hiding for a while,” Alano said.

When she eventually mustered the courage to discuss her experience in a radio show in April 2014, she was deluged by a tsunami of intrigues.

“I was bashed and blacklisted,” she recounted. “People smeared my reputation in the media. They wrote blind items about me. Family and friends turned their back on me. I couldn’t work. I suffered depression, isolation and a lot more.”

She became aware of the existence of “war rooms, where people were paid to attack victims online and intimidate them into silence.”

She had to endure accusations that she was “a liar and deserved to be raped,” Alano said.

Therapy

“I saw the extent of rape culture in my own surroundings,” she added.

There were also insinuations that she came forward to get attention and publicity. “The notion that people would cry rape for fame is the most absurd thing I have ever heard. My whole life was destroyed—all because I told the truth about being raped.”

She had to undergo therapy “to help me cope with the magnitude of the trauma,” Alano said. “Funny thing was, I mistakenly went to a therapist who had also treated my rapist.”

Because of “conflict of interest,” the doctor couldn’t take her case. But at least, the therapist believed her story, she said.

For the past four years, Alano has been telling her story to anyone who would listen. She feels strongly about sharing her struggles with everyone—especially the youth. She recently participated in a students’ forum on rape culture.

While she has shied away from the mainstream scene of late, Alano occasionally comes out in independently produced projects. She also creates handpainted yoga mats, which have found buyers here and abroad.

‘Oras Na’

She recently put together a short video on the issue titled “Oras Na,” referencing the “TimesUp” and #MeToo campaigns in the US.

The movement, she said, “definitely made survivors want to speak up more. But until we start to teach people correct information about rape, many will still be hesitant. Education needs to come hand in hand with this movement. The survivors need our support.”

But while the US campaign is “a very powerful movement (that’s been) a long time coming, I feel, however, that men have felt ostracized from it … Men are raped all the time, too.”

Men should be included in the discussion as well, Alano said. “Men have an even harder time speaking up because of shame.”

She added: “We need men to fight with us. This is not just about women’s, but also about human rights. Little boys and girls are raped in this country all the time. We all need to be together in this because rapists are predators who prey on other people.”

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