Raymart Santiago’s legal team has responded to Inday Barretto’s interview with Ogie Diaz on Monday, October 20.
In a statement from Calleja Law’s Atty. Howard Calleja and Atty. Katrin Jessica Distor-Guinigundo which Ogie posted his Facebook page, they called out Inday for spreading “this untruthful and slanderous narrative.”
“It is very unfortunate that Mrs. Barretto opted to resort to publicity to spread this untruthful and slanderous narrative about our client and his marriage with Ms. Claudine Barretto (Ms. Claudine), who has likewise repeatedly exploited social media and sought recourse through trial by publicity to discredit our client’s name and reputation,” the statement said.
According to Raymart’s legal team, Inday’s outrage was caused by the conjugal land that Claudine sold three years ago without Raymart’s knowledge and consent.
“Our client refuses to partake in any dispute involving, or irregularity Ms. Claudine and her cohorts may have committed,” the statement added.
The lawyers also reminded the Barrettos of an existing Gag Order issued by the Family Court, Branch 5 of Mandaluyong City in 2023, in which Raymart “has faithfully complied with, having kept his peace all these years.”
The statement said, “It is his hope that Ms. Claudine, her family, and agents would do the same, out of respect for the courts of justice and more importantly, for the sake of their children.”
The lawyers issued a warning to end their statement.
“Finally, let this be a final warning that any utterances in contravention of the law shall be dealt with before the appropriate forum to protect our client’s rights and to preserve his interests.”
In Inday’s tell-all interview, which premiered on Ogie’s YouTube channel last Sunday, October 19, she claimed her daughter was physically and sexually abused by Raymart for years during their marriage.
She would get phone calls from Claudine asking for help, Inday said, and recalled an incident where Claudine was dragged by Raymart in the mud, “parang kinatay na baboy.”
Inday clarified that Claudine is not a drug addict, but has a mental health condition.
Claudine has yet to release her own statement about the interview.
Claudine and Santiago got married in 2006, separated in 2013, and had public disputes. They have two children together, Sabina and Santino.
— Nika Roque/LA, GMA Integrated News