Claudine Barretto says she protected Rico Yan’s name for a long time

Claudine Barretto honors Rico Yan on his 22nd death anniversary | Images: Instagram, @claubarretto/Screengrab from ABS-CBN Star Cinema, YouTube

In her first tell-all interview after 22 years, Claudine Barretto recounted the timeline of events leading to her ex-boyfriend Rico Yan’s untimely death, saying that she did not cheat on him and that she has protected his name as possibly as she can, despite the fact that both of them played a role in the downfall of their relationship at the time.

Sitting down with Ogie Diaz, Barretto was in tears, recalling how she dealt with Yan’s death and how she deeply blamed herself for the turn of events. She shared that she and the actor already broke up in November 2001, four months before his death but decided to stay professional as they were working on their movie “Got 2 Believe.”

“Nasa Ad Congress siya, ‘pag uwi niya end of November, may nalaman ako, and naghiwalay kami. Pero we were still staying under the same roof and ang usapan, January, moved out. He was really sorry. He was asking pa na ayaw niya pa umalis. So sabi ko, ‘Sige, let’s be professional. Let’s work pero hindi na tayo magkakabalikan kasi hindi na ako ‘yung magiging Claudine na gusto mo, na minamahal mo,’” she narrated.

Despite not fully disclosing what mistake Yan made, Barretto remarked that what happened during the Ad Congress, a star-dubbed gathering of executives and personalities in the Philippine advertising industry, became her last straw. The Ad Congress at that time was attended by TV heartthrobs called The Hunks, namely, Yan, Piolo Pascual, Diether Ocampo, Jericho Rosales, Carlos Agassi, and Bernard Palanca, among others. 

READ: Claudine Barretto honors Rico Yan on his 22nd death anniversary

“Ang tagal kong prinotektahan ‘yung pangalan ni Rico. Pareho kaming may mali. Hindi ko lang talaga matanggap nung time na ‘yon kung ano man ‘yung nangyari during Ad Congress,” adding that came January 2002 she asked Yan to move out of their shared condo. 

“Hanggang sa naging March na basta sabi ko, ‘Wala ng balikan ‘to. Let’s remain friends,’ ‘Yung nangyari ‘yung anniversary namin nung March 4, sabi ko, ‘May usapan tayo. Hindi na talaga pwede,’” Barretto continued. 

The “Anak” actress then clarified that Yan never got violent towards her, despite their fights at the time.

“Hindi naman siya perfect. Hindi ako perfect. Nag-sigawan kami pero hindi umabot sa nananakit. Hindi siya ganon,” she remarked, adding that she was also close to accepting suitors as she and Yan have clearly broken up. 

Barretto further said she was spending time with Raymart Santiago, who was the alleged third party and became her ex-husband later on, because of having to attend gatherings in groups because their families were tightly-closed.

The actress revealed that Santiago was also in Subic at the time of her family’s trip as he was there for a separate gathering of a close friend, the night that Yan died. 

“Pero para lumandi or to spend time with Raymart in a romantic way, no. Hindi ‘yon, alam ng Diyos ‘yon,” she declared.

“Alam ng Diyos, wala na lahat-lahat ng taong mahal ko. Never ko niloko si Rico,” she added.

Barretto underscored that during the time that she was being crucified by the public for allegedly cheating on her late boyfriend, she was also blaming herself.

The actress shared that Yan left a letter, admitting to his mistakes, which she remained grateful for to this day.

She then stated that this is the last time that she is going to talk about him to mark his 22nd death anniversary, but she will continue to celebrate him out of the public eye.

On March 29, 2002, Yan died while on a Holy Week vacation in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. He died of cardiac arrest due to acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis. He was 27 years old.

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