Jennylyn Mercado

Jennylyn Mercado (born May 15, 1987) is a Filipina actress and singer. She became famous after winning in the first season of StarStruck, a reality-based talent search show of GMA Network in the Philippines.
Family

In the October 14, 2004 episode of TV drama series Magpakailanman of GMA Network, which featured her life story, viewers learned more about her childhood.

In May 4, 1991, when she was nearly four years old, she made headlines as a battered child. Her assailant was her stepfather, who burned her skin with cigarette butts and whacked her back with a flat iron. Her mother, who was then in Dubai working as a domestic helper, immediately came home. She came not to take care of her daughter, however, but to bail out her partner, who was in detention.

Her mother migrated to London and had her own family. Jennylyn's aunt, Lydia Mercado, legally adopted her.

In June 2004, Mercado's biological father, Noli Pineda, now 50, came home for a holiday. His arrival did not go unnoticed by the press. Reports came out saying that he was asking for money from his now self-sufficient daughter (an accusation she has strongly denied, insisting that her father wanted her to use his surname. She and her biological father, who is based in Korea, keep in touch.

Mercado is now the official spokesperson of the Bata Foundation (Christian Mission Services), a non-governmental organization. It operates with basic funding support from its partner organization, Christlicher Missiondienst (CMD) headquartered in Germany, supplementary assistance from two Japanese organizations and a few local groups, with the help of Feed Hungry Inc. and the GMA Artist Center.