Raymart Santiago shuts down claims that he abused ex-wife Claudine Barretto
Raymart Santiago, through his legal counsel, has denied allegations made by Inday Barretto that he had abused her youngest daughter, Claudine Barretto.
The issue came after Inday was invited for an interview on Ogie Diaz's YouTube channel, where she called out the actor for allegedly committing physical and sexual abuses against his former wife.
She recalled instances where Raymart covered Claudine’s mouth with a face towel, dragged her around, chased her like a scared mouse, among others. She further claimed that her daughter looked like a "zombie" at one point from all the alleged abuse.
In a statement sent to Ogie after the interview aired, Raymart's lawyers denied Inday's accusations and stressed that they were baseless.
"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, who has likewise repeatedly exploited social media and sought recourse through trial by publicity to discredit our client's name and reputation," they said.
According to them, Inday's outrage appeared to stem from a certain "conjugal land" that was sold by Claudine 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," Raymart's legal team said.
They reminded the Barretto family that there is an existing Gag Order issued by the Family Court, Branch 5 of Mandaluyong City in 2023 that Raymart has "faithfully complied with, having kept his peace all these years."
"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," they added.
The order directs the parties to refrain from making any defamatory statement or comment, or answer questions pertaining to the other party, and from publicizing the same through print, broadcast media, or digital media.
Raymart's legal counsel stressed that this would be their "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."
Claudine and Raymart got married in a civil ceremony in 2004, followed by a church wedding in 2006. They had a falling out in 2013 and had their marriage annulled.
According to Claudine, she had previously filed several cases against her ex-lover. These include Violence Against Women and Children, annulment, custody battles, and money and property issues. At the same time, the actress also revealed that she suffered from "battered-wife syndrome" and "post-traumatic stress disorder" because of their situation.
