MANILA, Philippines – In a highly anticipated and emotionally charged public address, Mommy Inday Barretto, the matriarch of the illustrious Barretto clan, has emerged from years of silence to level devastating allegations of abuse and financial exploitation against actor Raymart Santiago, her former son-in-law and estranged husband of her youngest daughter, actress Claudine Barretto.

The exclusive interview, conducted by talent manager and entertainment reporter Ogie Diaz, offered a rare look into the pain of a mother witnessing her child’s suffering, effectively reigniting a long-dormant scandal and sending shockwaves through the Philippine entertainment industry.

The Unraveling of a Vow: From Promise to Peril

Mommy Inday began her account by recalling the early days of Claudine and Raymart’s relationship, noting that their marriage had a seemingly beautiful start. She admitted she initially saw no fault in Santiago’s character, even defending him to those who questioned her daughter’s choice of husband.

However, the idyllic narrative soon crumbled. Mommy Inday recalled the solemn promise Santiago made to her and her late husband, Miguel Barretto: “I will take care of her. I will never hurt her.” That promise, she claims, was brutally broken.

The mother revealed the immense pain of revisiting her daughter’s past, but insisted she had to speak out to validate her daughter’s claims, defend her from incessant online criticism, and expose the full extent of the alleged mistreatment.

Mommy Inday described being forced to rush to her daughter’s home multiple times to intervene, knowing Claudine was allegedly being abused by her husband. She recounted one urgent plea for help from the “Optimum Star.” Upon arrival, however, she was shocked to find Claudine unnaturally calm and quiet.

This observation led Mommy Inday to a deeply disturbing claim: the issue of Raymart allegedly injecting Claudine to calm her down after their altercations. This action, she believes, was the origin of the damaging public narrative at the time that painted Claudine as a user of illegal substances—an allegation staunchly denied by Claudine’s legal counsel, Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, and seemingly contradicted by drug tests the actress later took, which came back negative.

The family’s attempt to help Claudine recover from these events was equally dramatic: her late father, Miguel, had to feign illness to facilitate Claudine’s confinement in the basement of a well-known hospital, a move intended to quell the addiction rumors circulating in the press.

Witnessing Abuse: The Trauma in Front of the Children

Mommy Inday revealed that the abuse was not always discreet. She recalled noticing a persistent, unsettling change in Claudine’s demeanor, noting that whenever the family rushed over for intervention, her daughter would be strangely calm, despite clearly having undergone a severe ordeal.

A particularly painful memory involved an incident of alleged physical abuse that took place in front of their house masseuse and, tragically, their young son, Santino. Mommy Inday relayed the horror of witnessing the emotional fallout:

“You did not see the ordinary family that we had. You hurt my daughter. You didn’t know your four- or five-year-old child saw it… They didn’t know what it was.”

The matriarch also vividly recounted the moment she says marked the irreversible end of the marriage: an incident where Raymart allegedly dragged Claudine in front of numerous neighbors right in their garage. This public spectacle was the final traumatic scene that precipitated their permanent separation.

Despite Claudine’s inability to verbally confirm the physical abuse to her mother—due to what Mommy Inday believes was shame or fear of what the family might do—the mother confirmed she always knew the truth. “Later on, nobody needed to tell me. We would just look at each other, Claudine and I. She couldn’t say it out of shame or fear. She was thinking about what I or her siblings might do, or that her daddy might die [from the shock].”

The Matriarch’s Accusation: A Marriage of Financial Expediency

In one of the most blistering segments of the interview, Mommy Inday delivered a direct, powerful message to Raymart Santiago, accusing him of marrying her daughter solely for her fame and wealth, and then stripping her of her assets.

“You know, you don’t owe any money. I will find out. I will never charge you, Raymart. My daddy and I never drove you away. We treated you like our own son-in-law. But you treated my daughter a beast, like an animal.“

She then delivered the crucial financial indictment:

“Then you took all the properties she worked so hard for for her children. Your children, which is supposed to be your job. You had no property at all. You married my daughter because she was Claudine Barretto. You dropped her when she stopped being a Claudine Barretto because of what you did to her, because you stopped when she is being one.”

Mommy Inday claimed her purpose in speaking out was to inform the public about the true origin of Claudine’s current struggles with anxiety and depression, stressing that she needed to have her voice heard: “I want to have a voice that I kept all the time.”

She concluded her testimony with a dramatic, fearless vow: “Hurt me and all, but don’t touch my children. I’m 89. I can go anytime. I told Claudine, ‘You stop it. It’s the last time I see tears from your eyes. I did crying for you already. Not another tear because I will finish this until the day I will finish it. I will not die until I finish this. And he better watch out. I’m gonna get him, and then I can rest in peace.'”

Legal Ramifications and Counter-Allegations

The physical, verbal, psychological, and economic abuses alleged by the Barretto camp fall under the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004 (RA 9262). However, Santiago’s camp has previously denied these claims, submitting a counter-affidavit in 2013 stating that Claudine’s accusations were baseless and untruthful.

Following the circulation of Mommy Inday’s interview, Raymart Santiago’s legal councils, Attorney Howard Calleja and Attorney Katherine Jessica Distor Ginigundo, swiftly issued a statement, accusing the Barretto matriarch of attempting a “trial by publicity.”

Their statement read: “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 Miss Claudine Barretto, who has likewise repeatedly exploited social media and and sought recourse through trial by publicity to discredit our client’s name and reputation.”

The lawyers suggested that the true source of Mommy Inday’s “outrage” might be a conjugal land property that Claudine allegedly sold three years prior without Santiago’s knowledge or consent. They also issued a sharp reminder about the existing gag order effective since September 20, 2023, warning that any further utterances in contravention of the law would be dealt with in the appropriate legal forum.

The controversy is further complicated by the public warning Mommy Inday issued to Santiago’s current partner, Jodi Sta. Maria, advising her to be vigilant and “proceed at your own risk,” a warning that Sta. Maria has yet to publicly address.

The Barretto matriarch’s explosive testimony has cast a long shadow over the ongoing legal battles, turning a private family dispute into a public referendum on accountability, abuse, and the moral integrity of celebrity figures.