For the last two years, with her career on a hiatus, Claudine Barretto has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
First, she and husband Raymart Santiago got involved in an ugly airport brawl with journalist Ramon Tulfo last year. Then, early this year, her long-running cold war with sister Gretchen Barretto escalated into a messy family feud that dragged three generations of Barrettos into the fray.
This month, the wreckage of her separation with Raymart went public when she accused him of abuse and he responded with a petition for custody of their two children.
Despite all these, Claudine remains hopeful about staging a showbiz comeback.
For a while now, her name has been attached to two projects that have yet to see the light of a first shooting day. First is a Viva movie that was supposed to have her starring opposite fellow Viva talents Derek Ramsey and Cristine Reyes. The other is a Viva-Star Cinema co-production that would reunite her with “Milan” leading man Piolo Pascual.
The Derek-Cristine project has been shelved, and rumor has it that the Piolo movie has been scuttled as well. Claudine has this to say: “I don’t wanna comment about it na. Kasi, ako pa ang idine-deny at pinalalabas na sinungaling. ‘Pag nandyan na lang.”
However, she lets on that she believes it will still push through. “It might take awhile bago kami magsimula,” she surmises.
“Sabi ni Boss Vic (del Rosario) kasi, tapusin ko na muna itong mga kaso. Tatapusin ko lang muna itong mga gusot sa buhay ko then, balik na ako sa pag-arte,” she says.
She also refutes the rumor that she is jealous of the ascendant careers of her nieces Julia and Claudia — teenage daughters of her sister Marjorie.
“I am so proud of them. Yes, matagal na kaming hindi nagkikita-kita. I just want them to grow into bigger and brighter stars. God knows in my heart na I took care of them, na para ko na rin silang mga anak,” she says.
Meanwhile, all the time she is spending these days with her lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, may have a showbiz upside, after all.
After performing a duet with Claudine during a press gathering last week, Atty. Topacio announced his plan to produce an album for the actress, which he said already has Boss Vic’s blessings.
Himself a controversial showbiz figure, Atty. Topacio has produced an album for teen star Bea Binene, a former client who ended up suing him last year.