Charles Teves
Gretchen Barretto has refused to rescind her accusation that Sen. Bato dela Rosa is directly involved in e-sabong and has incurred significant debt.
The senator shot down the allegations but the actress said she is “very willing” to present “evidence.”
“Time & place? Hurry pls.” she said in a now-deleted Instagram post which also contained Dela Rosa’s interview with Pastor Apollo Quiboloy’s SMNI News.
“Tumatalpak kasi si Bato na ito, e. Bato, ilabas natin yung mga talpak mo kaya.” she added.
Dela Rosa replied by claiming that he is no gambler.
“Tapos sasabihin pa na mayroon daw akong utang sa… sabi niya may balance daw ako? Papano ako magkaka-balance never naman akong nagsusugal. Never naman akong nagsasabong. Never in my life, kahit once na, nag-bet ako sa sabong. Hindi nangyari sa buhay ko yan.”
The watch Dela Rosa wore during the Senate hearing also caught Barretto’s attention. “Ang mahal ng relo ni Bato. Saan kaya nanggaling? My God! A senator has that much! Oh my gosh.” she accentuated.
Dela Rosa didn’t have any of it, though.
“Yung unang-una sinabi niya mahal daw yung relo ko. Bakit siya lang ba may karapatan na magsuot ng 85,000 na halaga ng relo? Bakit hindi pala ako pwede? Mahal talaga yun para sakin, pero sa kanila, ewan ko kung talagang totoong mahal sa kanila yun.” he told SMNI in response to Barretto.
He also denied accusations of him “grandstanding.”
“Never I have wanted to grandstand in any of my… anything that has to with my performance on the job. I never grandstand. Ako, galit na galit ako sa mga grandstanding na mga senador, grandstanding ng mga congressman. Ayoko nun… kaya I don’t know kung nag-grandstanding ba ako pero, it was not, never in my intention na mag-grandstanding ako.”
He called Barretto’s attempt an act of character assassination.
“You cannot attack person through issues, you attack him through his character, so character assassination yung ginagawa nila. Character assassination ang ginagawa nila sakin, para lang to get back at me. Dahil hirap pa silang lumusot sa issues na kinaroroonan nila ngayon.” he continued.
Barretto is in business with Atong Ang, the owner of the sabong arena where several cockfighting bettors were last seen before being abducted.
