TW: This article contains graphic depictions of sexual abuse.
Excerpts from trans man singer Jake Zyrus’ 2018 autobiography “I Am Jake” revealing the traumatic experiences he endured as a child, particularly the abuse he suffered from a relative, have resurfaced online seven years after it was released.
The excerpts, which have since gone viral, detailed his harrowing past of the abuse he suffered when he was just six years old at the hands of his uncle whom he treated as a father figure.
In the book, Zyrus recounted how his uncle took advantage of him repeatedly at his grandmother’s house, especially when his mother was away.
“I was six years old when an uncle began sexually abusing me. The first time it happened, I was playing in the living room while he drew. He looked up from the sketches he was making and called me over. […] Even at that age, my instincts told me something bad was going to happen. But I had no choice but to follow him. As he drew me, my mind quickly shifted to denial,” the singer detailed the first incident.
He continued, “My uncle then asked me to come with him to his room. We were going to sleep, he told me. Even if I had said no, I was so small and helpless. All he had to do was pick me up. Of course we didn’t sleep. He lay behind me, spooned me, and started touching me all over.
“My uncle, supposedly my second father, asked me to touch his genitals. I refused to move and didn’t talk. I just lay there stiffly, waiting for the nightmare to be over.”
According to his account, some of his other relatives were nearby during these instances, mentioning a time where his uncle forcibly kissed him, yet the abuse continued as he was even threatened to stay silent.
“During those times I kept wishing someone would see. ‘Please let someone see’. His grip was so tight on my small frame, and he always punctuated these attacks with the same threat: ‘If you tell anyone, I’ll kill you.’ It was something he was actually capable of. Like I said, violence runs in our blood,” Jake narrated on his book.
As a child, Zyrus silently battled fear and anger from the abuse, unable to express his pain while going through school.
“I can talk about these things now, but when I was a child, I would often find myself staring blankly into the distance. I felt anger and fear, the tip of my tongue holding all the words I wished I had the courage to say but couldn’t. I’d go to school, sit in my chair, and think about my miserable life as my teachers taught us innocent first-grade stuff like addition and subtraction,” wrote Jake.
Fifteen years later, Zyrus found the courage to tell his mother, Raquel Pempengco, about the abuse. However, his confession was met with disbelief.
“We were inside the car […] All of a sudden, she mentioned that she was going to invite my assailant to our Tagaytay House. This triggered my anger and the shift in my mood showed on my face,” Jake recalled.
When his mother questioned his reaction, Jake finally admitted, saying, “He did something to me,” but instead of believing her son, she called his uncle, who denied it.
“She told me I had a lot of nerve to be making up stories about the old man,” Zyrus shared his mother’s words to him.
The resurfaced excerpts have prompted netizens to express their support for the singer, praising his bravery in speaking about his past. Others have also shared their own stories of survival, while some criticized his mother for dismissing his revelation.
This seemingly prompted Raquel to write crytic posts on her Facebook account addressing “fake news” from an “outdated book”.
As of now, Jake has yet to react nor comment about the issue.
