MANILA – While Gretchen Barretto has yet to speak up on the controversy she is currently embroiled in, the socialite-actress is thankful that many people continue to express support for her.
In her Instagram account on Thursday, Barretto posted several photos of her regular workout with her friends.
Many of her followers then stormed her with messages of support, telling her to stay strong amid their family feud.
“Thank you. I'm won't deny I'm hurting but I thank God still for all those who continue to love me,” she said.
Her only daughter with businessman Tonyboy Cojuangco, meanwhile, took to microblogging site Twitter to back her mother.
In her own account on Wednesday, Dominique Cojuangco said: "I know my mum more than anyone."
This comes after Barretto’s mother Inday released a statement on Wednesday, announcing that she is disowning the socialite-actress.
Mrs. Barretto defended her daughter Claudine against the allegations of Gretchen, who had supposedly criticized her younger sister for "bashing" their niece Julia on Instagram.
Julia was recently introduced as an artist of Star Magic, the ABS-CBN talent management firm that launched Claudine to stardom until her transfer to another network in 2009.
Joaquin Barretto, coming to the defense of his younger sister Gretchen, issued a statement on Wednesday night, expressing shock over their mother's allegations.
He also appealed to his mother to "put a stop to this before our family totally falls apart while there is still something to save."
In an interview with entertainment website Pep.ph that was published on Thursday, Joaquin revealed that Gretchen was crying non-stop when she read their mother’s statement.
“When I read it, it was too much! When I spoke to Gretchen, she was crying. She tried to talk, but after a while, humahagulgol na lang siya. Iyak nang iyak," he said.
Joaquin also told Pep.ph that it is Claudine who is fighting Gretchen all this time.
