Lusot na sa sexual harassment... Tony Labrusca, isang taong nagdusa sa demanda!

Kabaliktaran sa naranasan nina Sandro Muhlach at Gerald Santos ang pinagdaanan ng actor na si Tony Labrusca.

Siya ang kinasuhan ng sexual harassment / acts of lasciviousness noong 2021.

Na-trauma pero wala nang galit ang actor sa kasalukuyan.

Nanalo siya sa dalawang kaso pero mahigit isang taon din ang pinagdaanan niyang agony. Kaya naman maingat siyang sumagot at magbigay ng pahayag sa mga nagaganap ngayong kontrobersiya.

“Okay. So I would like to actually say that I’m a victim of being blamed for sexual harassment. So I’ve won my case. 

“So that’s why sexual harassment is such a real thing that I don’t think it’s appropriate in the first place for people to just talk about it so lightly just because...

“I don’t think people realize it’s like a very serious thing,” umpisa niya nang hingan siya ng komento o kung may katulad siyang karanasan kina Sandro at Gerard o kay Ahron Villena sa isang interview para sa pelikulang What You Did na isa sa mga mapapanood sa gaganaping Sinag Maynila International Film Festival.

“And coming from someone like me, I’ve almost had my career taken from me by being blamed that I’ve been a sexual harasser, when in fact I’m not. That’s just such a serious thing. So it ruins lives on both sides. 

“So I think everybody should be very careful about how they talk about sexual harassment and how they ask questions about sexual harassment.

“And for me, I’m just saying that I’m in such a place—I’m grateful to be in a place where I’m still doing amazing projects. Whether or not bad things have happened to me in the past. I’m put on this earth, and God is still giving me the opportunity to be an actor and be in amazing projects. That’s my point,” pagdidiin niya.

Pero aniya totoong nagkakaroon ng over-sexualize sa industriya dahil bahagi ito ng proseso ng trabaho sa paggawa ng pelikula.

“I think all of us have gone through some sort of, not necessarily sexual abuse, but like you, knowing that people fantasize about your sex sexually. Maybe being oversexualized. And I think that our industry, let’s just be honest, needs that. We need that because there’s a market for it.

“We glamorize it. Whether we want to admit it or not, that’s what people want to see. I’m just saying that it’s not that I’ve never been or ever felt like maybe I was oversexualized or taken advantage of. What I mean is that I’m grateful because it’s not affected me in a way where I’m not able to still do amazing projects like me here as an actor; this is what’s amazing. I’m doing an amazing movie, so it hasn’t affected me. Maybe the way it has affected others,” mahabang pahayag pa ng actor.

Pero nagkaayos na ba sila ng nagdemanda sa kanya or may closure ang nangyari? “I wish her the best of luck in her life. I have no malice and no hate in my heart. So, yeah, I won fair and square.”

Isang taon bago na-dismiss ang kasong sexual harassment.

“Oh, it took a whole year. Actually, so everybody wanted to believe my case, but it was thrown on me. But when I won my case, no one cared anymore. No one cared I was innocent,” sabi niya na parang natatawa na lang.

Matinding trauma ang pinagdaanan niya pero naging daan daw ito para mapalapit siya sa Diyos. “Yeah, so that was really traumatic. But honestly, that just brought me closer to God.  Because nobody else believed in me. So I guess, it was just me and God at the time,” pag-amin pa ng actor

 At ngayon nga ay tanggap na niya na may mga nag-oversexualized?  “No, I mean, that’s not my point. What I’m saying is personal—for me personally, I don’t feel comfortable revealing to you guys whether I’ve been sexually harassed or not. What I mean is I’m the kind of actor where I already know people oversexualize me. They want to see me do the sex scenes because that’s what I’m known for. So what I will say is, whether or not I have experienced some form of sexual harassment, it’s just not important to me, and I’m grateful that I don’t put that much weight on it because I’m still doing amazing projects. 

 “I know that there’s some people out there that experienced horrible things, and they’re not able to move forward in life. My point is, whether or not I’ve experienced that, it’s not hindering me from being the best version of myself. It’s not hindering me from becoming the best that I want to be of my capabilities. And that’s why we have this amazing movie, because whether or not something bad happened to me, I’m not going to let that slow me down. That was my point,” na ang tinutukoy nga ay itong pelikula niyang What You Did.

Samantala, ang kuwento ng What You Did ay iikot kina Arvin Espiritu at Ace na ang buhay ay nagsalubong sa mga hindi inaasahang paraan habang sila ay naglalakbay sa mga resulta ng matinding trauma ng pagkabata at ang matinding epekto ng pandemya ng COVID-19.

Ang pelikula ay dinirek ni Joan Lopez-Flores. First full length niya ang pelikulang ito na siya rin ang writer.

Nauna na itong napili sa Full Circle Lab - First Cut Lab 2023 capacity building and mentorship program by the Film Development Council of the Philippines and Tatino Films in France.

At ito nga ay nasa official selection / finalist ng Sinag Maynila Independent Film Festival 2024.

Kasama sa kasalukuyang proyekto ni Direk Joan ang children’s travel show series na Mang Lalakbay sa ABS-CBN and also available on demand digitally via iWantTFC.