Lyn Ching recalls how Jose Mari Chan helped her through trauma when she was 15
Lyn Ching gave a glimpse of the special bond she shares with Jose Mari Chan, whom she calls her "Tito Joe."
On Thursday, Sept. 3, the Unang Hirit host posted an anecdote on Facebook about an incident when she was a teenager, standing in line to meet Chan.
"I first met Tito Joe when I was around 15. I lined up to get his autograph at a mall where he was doing his autograph signing," Ching wrote.
"Since it was crowded and very busy and me being a naive kid, I didn't notice when a man behind me was becoming too close. So close, in fact, that I was already being molested without my knowledge," she continued.
The host said she realized it only when her mother saw what was happening and screamed.
"It was only then that I realized that the man's hand was already in my school uniform skirt and there was no longer space between his front and my lower half," Ching wrote, adding that her initial reaction was to freeze.
"Was it my fault? Why did I not notice what was being done to my body? Why did it happen? Why?" she continued.
The man, who Ching recalled was "heavily sweating," ran and security couldn't catch up to him.
"Uncle Joe noticed the commotion, halted the signing, came to me, comforted me, and talked to my mother in Hokkien (yes, I understood the conversation). He made sure I was alright," Ching wrote, saying that through it all, she tried not to cry.
"This lovely, wonderful man helped me. He didn't brush it aside or ignore a child's trauma. He apologized that it happened at his event even. None was his fault," Ching continued.
"This is just one of the many reasons I love this man," she wrote.
Chan recently appeared as a guest at Unang Hirit, where he had a happy reunion with Ching.
According to Ching, writing about the assault was the first time she ever shared that memory. It had a profound effect on her, she said, causing her not to trust easily, be wary of crowds, and overprotect her children.
"Trauma can deeply affect a person's psyche. I would like to believe it toughened me up," she said. "Take care of your kids."
Ching is married to Jose "Jappy" Pascual and shares two children with him, Gaby and Matty.
