Raymart Santiago has become a negligent father since he started dating fellow actor Jodi Sta. Maria, said Claudine Barretto, Santiago’s estranged wife.
Santiago and Sta. Maria went public with their relationship in October. A few months later, Barretto said she was displeased with the two because they had broken a promise that they had made, but wished them happiness.
Read: Actors Jodi Sta. Maria and Raymart Santiago are reportedly seeing each other
In an interview this week with Abantelliling, Barretto aired the reason behind her frustration. She said Santiago and Sta. Maria should have informed her kids first that they were dating, before telling the public. Barretto said her daughter Sabina learned about her father’s new relationship on social media, which left the teenager upset.
Barretto, who was Sta. Maria’s close friend before this controversy, called the latter to vent her displeasure.
“I said, ‘Jodi, I asked you for one thing, that you tell me first so I can tell my kids.’ I knew this was going to happen because they were both actors,” Barretto said in English and Filipino.
“I said, ‘This is what I am trying to avoid, for my kids to see pictures [of you together] before you tell me,'” she added.
Worse, Santiago and Sta. Maria allegedly informed the latter’s son about the status of their relationship, Barretto said.
Read: Claudine Barretto on Marjorie and Raymart: ‘We’re civil’
“Her son, Thirdy [Lacson], she and Raymart sat him down and explained that this is her new boyfriend. Isn’t that rude? You forgot about my kids,” the Milan actress complained.
“Go ahead, be happy. [But] don’t forget your responsibility to my children, Raymart. And I can see that Jodi is not a good influence on him,” she said.
“And I’m in disbelief, I don’t understand how Jodi did this. That they didn’t even bother telling me, and they forgot about my kids… Now I know you will never have the best interest of my children at heart. He was a better father when they weren’t together yet,” Barretto added.
Barretto and her estranged husband have been battling each other in court for the past several years because of Santiago’s alleged failure to pay child support. They were married in 2006 and had an acrimonious separation in 2013. Aside from Sabina, they have a son named Santino.
Prior to dating Santiago, Sta. Maria was seeing Cavite Vice Governor Jolo Revilla on-and-off for many years until they permanently split up in 2018. She was married to Pampi Lacson, Senator Panfilo Lacson’s son, and they separated in 2011.
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