Claudine Barretto refutes drug addiction allegations

MANILA, Philippines - Claudine Barretto and her legal counsel on Tuesday denied the allegations of Raymart Santiago that the actress is a drug addict.

In the counter-affidavit of Raymart in response to Claudine’s Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC) case against him, the Kapuso actor revealed the alleged drug use of the 34-year-old actress.

Raymart presented photos and videos which he claims show Claudine's alleged drug addiction. The 37-year-old also claimed Claudine inflicted physical harm on him.

Related article: Raymart files counter-affidavit vs Claudine’s violence against women case

During a press conference at the Hotel Rembrandt in Quezon City, Claudine's lawyer Ferdinand Topacio refuted Raymart’s claims.

“It was very clear that nilabas nila yung video para pahiyain yung kliyente ko but there’s no truth to the rumors na pino-propogate nila na my client is a drug addict,” Topacio told members of the press.

He also said Raymart’s claims were not relevant to Claudine’s VAWC case and were meant to” probably humiliate my client and para magalit sa kanya ang publiko at mapahiya siya, which shows the kind of person that Mr. Santiago is.”

According to Topacio, the medicine Claudine is injecting on one of the videos presented by Raymart in his counter-affidavit is Gerovital H3.

Gerovital— or procaine hydrochloride, a “controversial preparation developed during the 1950s and promoted by its advocates as an effective anti-aging treatment,” according to Wikipedia—is taken intramuscularly, he said.

“For convenience, siya na yung nagtutusok ng Gerovital,” he explained. “Yun yung nakita sa video.”  

Claudine said Raymart also takes Gerovital H3.

‘Hinahamon kita’

Claudine also takes anti-allergy medication intravenously, he added, as the actress suffers from chronic urticaria—also known as hives.

During the press conference, Topacio showed negative drug test reports of Claudine from October 11, 2011 and April 8, 2013. These are relevant dates covered by Claudine’s Violence Against Women and Children case, he explained.

They also presented Claudine’s report from a drug test taken Monday, September 30. According to the report, Claudine tested negative for 10 illegal drug substances—particularly phencyclidine, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cocaine, ecstacy, methadone, methamphetamine, morphine, opium, and tetrahydrocannabinol.  

It was Claudine’s father Miguel Barretto who urged her daughter to take a drug test yesterday.

“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 naitn. Nagulat ako sa sagot ni Claudine, ‘Oo, dad. Papasundo kita’,” he said.

The Barretto patriarch added, “Hinintay naming ang results. Complete ang hinihingi namin, sampu, hindi lang dalawa. This was done yesterday, negative and passed lahat.”

Related article: Claudine’s camp: Theft case against actress a diversion, ‘very suspicious’

“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 piagastos ko pa siya. Iyon ang hamon ko sa kanya,” he ended.

Junelet Mataro, part of Claudine’s legal team, said they are planning to file another case against Raymart today, October 1.

Meanwhile, in an interview, Ruth Castelo, Raymart’s lawyer, responded to Claudine and Topacio’s denial over their allegations.

“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.