Claudine Barretto denies drug abuse charges
The legal battle between estranged spouses Claudine Barretto and Raymart Santiago is taking another turn for the worse.
Claudine vehemently denied Raymart’s statements in his counter-affidavit that she’s a drug addict.
“It was very clear that nilabas nila yung video para pahiyain yung kliyente ko but there’s no truth to the rumors na pinopropogate nila na my client is a drug addict,” Claudine’s lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said in a press conference on Tuesday, October 1 at Rembrandt Hotel, Quezon City.
Topacio added that Claudine takes two kinds of injectables: one to fight allergy, and another -- Gerovital H3 – to combat aging .
“For convenience, siya na yung nagtutusok ng Gerovital. Yun yung nakita sa video,” Topacio added.
Claudine said that she takes Gerovital for beauty and health purposes.
“Ako I owe it to the public because I have to take care of my skin, look good. Siya (Raymart) rin, ginagawa niya rin iyon.”
Claudine wants to know why Raymart allowed her to take care of their two children – who she says are doing very well -- if he thinks she’s a drug addict.
“Kung totoong mentally ill ako or drug addict ako, bakit mo pababayaan sa akin ang mga bata ng ilang buwan? Hindi ba dapat iyon ang unang binitbit mo, hindi 'yung mga Louis Vuitton luggage, hindi relo at hindi pera. Kung hindi pa siya na TPO (temporary protection order), wala siyang pakialam sa mga anak niya.”
Drug test results
Claudine’s father Miguel Barretto cleared his daughter’s name by showing a copy of drug test results that proved she was negative for substance abuse.
Claudine passed drug tests for Phencyclidine, Barbiturates, Benzodiazepines, Cocaine, Ecstacy, Methadone, Methamphetamine, Morphine, Opium and Thetrahydrocannabinol.
Miguel told the press that he asked Claudine to take a drug test on his birthday, September 30.
“Ang gusto ko ay magpadrugtest ka, para mawala na talaga lahat ng bahid na drug addict ka kung pumasa ka. At gusto kong itong araw na nito, kasama ako at isang abugado. Kung maari ipa-video natin. Nagulat ako sa sagot ni Claudine, ‘Oo, dad. Papasundo kita.’ Nung hapon, tumuloy kami sa High Precision Diagnostics at pinakunan siya ng sample at andoon ang lab technician. Hinintay namin ang results. Complete ang hinihingi namin, sampu, hindi lang dalawa. This was done yesterday, negative and passed lahat.”
The Barretto patriarch added that the drug tests show that his 34-year-old daughter is “clean” and “okay.”
“Ilang beses na kasi ako nagpapadrug test para to show Raymart. Kasi for some reason iyon yung pinasok niya sa utak ko. Ganoon kasi ang abusers. So, ako naman, I kept on proving and proving. So, when my dad asked me, parang, sige na,” Claudine said.
Challenge to Raymart
Miguel challenged Raymart to do what Claudine did.
“So, ngayon, sino ang sinungaling? Ngayon hinahamon ko siya na magpadrugtest rin. Kasi huling kita ko sa kanya sa TV parang may tama. Magpadrugtest siya, ako nag magbabayad, para hindi niya sabihin na pinagastos ko pa siya. Iyon ang hamon ko sa kanya.”
Claudine and her camp filed another complaint, this time a criminal case for violation of RA 4200, also known as the Anti Wire-Tapping Law, against Raymart.
“Inside my own house, without my knowledge, kahit sa loob ng banyo namin merong mga video cameras,” Claudine said.
Raymart’s lawyer Ruth Castelo, on the other hand, said she leaves it up to the court to review the pieces of evidence.
“They can deny everything that he said. We submitted the evidences already and it's up to the prosecutor to determine the validity whether or not our evidences are admissible,” Castelo said in a phone interview.
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