Jennylyn: No bitterness, only forgiveness in my heart Updated 01:09am (Mla time) Oct 15, 2004 By Jocelyn Valle Inquirer News Service Editor's Note: Published on page A1 of the October 15, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer ALTHOUGH Jennylyn Mercado said she didn't have bitterness in her heart about being a battered child, she admitted wishing not to see her tormentor ever again. "I hope he won't show up anymore," she said, referring to her stepfather who maltreated her when she was 3 years old. In a press interview last Monday, newspaper clippings (including the Inquirer, dated May 4, 1991) of Jennylyn's rescue from her abusive stepfather were passed around. According to the news reports, Jennylyn's mother, who was then working in Dubai, had left her in the care of her stepfather. In late April 1991, their neighbors were alarmed when the girl's stepfather beat and kicked her until she fell down the stairs at their old residence in Mandaluyong. The neighbors alerted her aunt Lydia Mercado who sought help from the police. In the pictures, Jennylyn had swollen and bruised eyes, as well as cigarette burns on her arms and hands. A hot flatiron had been pressed on her back, the reports said. Last Friday, Jennylyn showed the scars that told a violent story. That story was to be dramatized on GMA-7's "Magpakailanman" last night. The singer-actress, who emerged as the female ultimate survivor of "StarStruck" together with Mark Herras last year, said she wasn't sexually abused. Her stepfather spent only a couple of days in detention because her mother hastily came home upon hearing the news of the abuse and bailed him out, she said. She has not seen her stepfather since then, she said. Legally adopted She recalled that she last saw her mother when she was in grade four. "She had come from London then," she said. "She already had her own family. Now I don't have news from her." Jennylyn said she decided to come out with her story because incidents from her past have been revisiting her lately. For instance, her father, who has been working in Korea for a long time now, recently returned to her life and asked that she use his family name again. Jennylyn said her aunt Mama Lydia has legally adopted her. She said she wanted people to understand her. "I've been labeled as suplada, may sariling mundo, maldita (aloof, lost in my own world, a brat)," she said. The truth is, I was traumatized by the abuse. For a long time, I was afraid of people. When somebody rang the doorbell at home, I would get scared and hide inside the cabinet. I would suddenly wake up in the middle of the night and cry because I felt somebody was trying to catch me." Complete and true She said she told her story because she also wanted to preempt any news about her life as a battered child lest it be reported inaccurately. "It's better that I break the news," she said. "It will be complete and true." She said she was ready to relive that part of her life as it was dramatized on television. "The memories came back to me while I was taping for the episode," she said. "Although I wasn't able to watch the taping of the scenes where a child actor was being beaten up, I made it a point to visit the set." Jennylyn said she survived the harrowing experience with the help of her adoptive parents. "They brought me up well," she said of Mama Lydia and her husband. "There's no hatred in my heart now, only forgiveness." The experience, she added, has taught her to be stronger and more open. She said she's now trying to hook up with a foundation that helps abused children. She said young people who are in a similar situation should never let themselves be abused, be afraid or to lo