Marjorie Barretto finally gave her version of the story of what had happened during her father, Miguel Alvir’s, wake that led to a social media war between her and sister Gretchen.
In a tell-all interview on TV Patrol with Karen Davila, Marjorie answered every allegation thrown at her and people close to her in relation to the scuffle.
The relationship between Nicole and Atong Ang
Marjorie began her story with how her niece Nicole and businessman Atong Ang became involved in the narrative. Allegedly, before Atong and Gretchen arrived at the wake, Atong called one of his children to tell Nicole that they were on their way and that Nicole and her siblings should leave.
Marjorie said that this had upset Nicole who was allegedly Atong’s girlfriend of 5 years until Gretchen “stole” him from her—a claim Atong has already denied in a previous statement, saying that Nicole was merely his secretary and with whom he had no romantic relations.
“[They] said, kung puwede umalis muna sila Nicole at ‘yung mga kapatid niya, dahil parating si Gretchen at si Atong. Bigla na lang lumuha [si Nicole]. Apo siya, e. She had more right in the wake,” Marjorie said.
“Tapos siyempre napapahiya siya sa aming lahat, kasi very present si Atong sa lahat ng family gatherings namin in that almost five years, as the boyfriend of Nicole. Napapahiya rin naman si Nicole na papasok [sina Gretchen and Atong] magkasama. Parang sampal na sa pagmumukha niya ‘yon. It was not the place to do that.”
Marjorie did admit being irate at the time that Gretchen arrived and reconciled with their mother Inday, but it wasn’t because she didn’t want Gretchen to be at the wake; rather, she was not happy about Atong telling Nicole’s family to leave the venue.
(ALSO READ: Gretchen Barretto Snaps at Julia Barretto on Her Instagram Stories)
The rejected reconciliation between sisters
Marjorie confirmed that President Duterte, who had visited the wake, tried to convince her and Gretchen to reconcile and that she indeed refused to do so because she “could see the insincerity in Gretchen.”
“Sabi ko, ‘Mr. President, I respect you, I love you, I voted for you, sir. Pasensya na po. Hindi po kita mapagbibigyan,’” Marjorie said.
This was the moment that the highly publicized fight began. According to Marjorie, Claudine had burst out: “You’re unbelievable!” and “How dare you! You just want the attention!”
Marjorie, addressing Duterte, said: “Mr. President, tingnan niyo po ‘to. Ito po ‘yung totoong pagkatao nila. Nagbabait-baitan lang po sila sa harapan ninyo. I hope you understand.”
The fight
Marjorie recounted how the fight went down. She alleged that, first, Atong had tried to grab her. Gretchen was supposed to grab her too, but Nicole stepped in to take her away. Then, after Gretchen had a “nervous breakdown,” she went after Nicole and started pulling her hair and kicking her.
“Para klaro sa lahat. Siya ang gumawa ng gulo. Hindi ako. I respect my father,” Marjorie explained.
The birthday party
Marjorie then clarified the reason why mom Inday wasn’t at the party she threw for the late patriarch’s 82nd birthday.
She said that her mom had always been invited but couldn’t make it because she wasn’t feeling well that day. She also made it clear that her father did not die of a heart attack but of acute respiratory failure.
She then criticized Gretchen for calling her out for allegedly not inviting Inday to the party when Gretchen had long been estranged from her parents. She even mentioned how Gretchen never once visited their father in the hospital.
“Speaking of not inviting your mother to your house — Gretchen, for more than 25 years, has never invited my parents to her house, any of her mansions and rest houses, not even to their garage. So don’t paint me as the bad daughter, Gretchen,” Marjorie shared.
(ALSO READ: Gretchen Barretto says Marjorie caused father’s heart attack for excluding mom Inday from his birthday party)
Marjorie’s love life
Marjorie also took the time to publicly admit that Caloocan Mayor Recom Echiverri is the father of her youngest child.
“Hindi ako perfect. I’m very strong in many ways, pero sa pag-ibig talaga mahina ako,” she said. “I’m not proud of it. I’m not perfect.”
She also accused Claudine of “setting up” Echiverri when Claudine reached out to ask for financial help some time before March. Gretchen has since accused Echiverri of “molesting” Claudine.
The response of Gretchen and Claudine
After Marjorie’s interview, both Gretchen and Claudine came forward to respond to everything Marjorie claimed had happened.
Speaking to GMA News, Claudine denied Marjorie’s statement that she had initiated the fight and accused her of twisting the facts. She said that Gretchen wanted to reconcile with the family even before the President made the suggestion.
While Claudine admitted that she called Marjorie “unbelievable,” she claimed that she never said it hysterically as Marjorie made it seem in the interview. She also said that she couldn’t take Marjorie’s hardheadedness especially in front of the President.
“Hindi mo nga kayang mapagbigyan ang hiling ng presidente, mag-a-i love you ka sa presidente? Ano ba ‘yun?” she added.
She also said that this feud is making it harder for her to accept the passing of their father.
“Dahil sa gulong ‘to hindi pa nagsi-sink in yung pagkawala ng tatay ko. Hindi ko alam kung dahil sa gulong to o dahil ayoko pang i-accept,” she said.
Meanwhile, Gretchen responded to Marjorie’s allegations on Instagram.
(ALSO READ: Gretchen, Claudine, and Marjorie: The Story Behind the Barretto Family Feud)
In a post, Gretchen explained that she was not able to visit their ailing father in the hospital because of Echiverri’s presence with whom she has tensions with. She also accused Marjorie of arranging the birthday party without inviting their mother to “spite” her “for being on Claudine’s side.” Gretchen claimed that this had caused a “huge dispute” between their parents.
Gretchen added: “FYI, relax, you are radiating with so much anger and envy and highly paranoid. I do not have the power to orchestrate a grand entrance with the president of the Philippines. PRDD was kind enough to offer to see me at the wake and only then I was hoping you could control your anger and overwhelming fear of the truth.”
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