If before Gretchen and Marjorie Barretto only had to field the tirades of their younger sister Claudine against them, now the two older Barrettos has added a new person to defend themselves from—and that is no less than their father, Miguel “Mike” Barretto.

In what seemed like a soap opera unfolding, the plot has now thickened in the legal battle between couple Claudine and Raymart Santiago as it has now tangled even the latter’s family into the fray.

During a taped interview aired on The Buzz on Sunday, Mike expressed extreme disappointment over the purported meddling of his three other children, namely: Gretchen, Marjorie and Jay-Jay into the rift.

The Barretto patriarch is alluding to the sworn statements given by the aforementioned three which was included on the recently-released counter-affidavit of Raymart.

“Ang masakit ewan ko bakit nakikialam sila. Away pamilya nilang dalawa ‘yan ewan ko bakit nakikisama sila. Pinakiusapan ko na sila, hindi ko alam bakit ayaw nilang making. Gusto nila ang masusunod,” lamented Mike.

He even chastised how the three are “righteous on the outside” when “inside they are hypocrites and evil doings ang ginagawa nila,'

Since the older Barrettos, according to him are ganging up on Claudine, Mike said they had to choose their “pinakamabait na anak.”

'Alam mo si Claudine, pinakamabait sa lahat sa kanila at saka binu-bully nila. Sa palagay ko, part of that is sibling rivalry because ang na-attain ni Claudine sa kanyang pagkabata ay hindi na na-attain ng mas matanda niyang kapatid na dalawa,' he said, referring to his two daughters, who joined showbiz, Marjorie and Gretchen.

Truth be told, he even revealed that it was actually the three who worsened their sister’s marital woes. With that he asked them to just mind their own businesses and stay out of the couple’s lives.

'Sinabi namin maso-solve nila ito until pumasok 'yung mga kapatid. Then Mrs. [Inday] Barretto had to expose them, masakit ang ginawa ni Mrs. Barretto, she had to expose her own daughter,' he said.

He continued, “Tumigil na sila, layuan na nila kami. ‘Wag na silang kumampi kay Raymart, ‘wag na silang kumampi kay Claudine magtahimik lang sila. ‘Wag na silang manira. Malaki na ang ginawa nilang stress.”

Echoing Claudine’s suggestion for his two sisters to “drop” their surnames if they’re too ashamed to being called a Barretto, Mike scathingly remarked, 'Kung kinakahiya nila ang Barrettong pangalan, huwag na nilang gamitin, magpalit sila. Gretchen can use Cojuangco kung papayagan siyang gamitin ang Cojuangco, I doubt kung papayag naman si Tony Boy. Marjorie can use Baldivia (the offscreen last name of Marjorie’s ex-husband Dennis Padilla) if she wants kung kinakahiya nila 'yung Barretto,'

Marjorie, Gretchen fire back

Marjorie for her part took to her Instagram her reaction to the haranguing of her little sister about the usage of the Barretto last name by posting a screen grab of her Notes which read: “Little girl… Who gave you the right to DICTATE to us… To ME ‘PALITAN NA RIN NILA ANG APELYIDO NILA’ I am a BARRETTO! I am legally allowed to USE Barretto.

“You are the one that is a Santiago now. I was a Barretto even before you were born. You ARE NOT the head of this family. I don’t take orders from you little girl. I will not take orders from you.”

The said photo was captioned, “Hurtful! You are the youngest in this family but you treat us all so disrespectfully. From the eldest to the youngest you have never respected us. Enough is enough. I have kept my peace all these time.”

“But this is too much. You have hurt me enough to last a lifetime. You can fool the world and make them believe that we are bad sisters. But you little girl... You cannot fool God. In time... We will be vindicated,” she added.

On another Instagram post, Marjorie said: “I am removing all power you have on me to hurt me… I’m tired of your blackmails. You have caused me many many sleepless nights and I have cried too many tears for you. You little girl… You can not hurt or harm me again. Never again. This is the last time I will cry over you.”

“God is watching,” Marjorie captioned the said photo.

Gretchen, on the other hand, released a very shocking statement via an entertainment website where she corroborated Raymart’s claim about Claudine’s drug abuse and mental condition.

La Greta expressed her dismay over the claims of her father saying that, “It pains me to be depicted by our parents as the ‘bad children’ who are only out to ‘bully’ Claudine. Everyone knows NO ONE can bully Claudine! No one will dare.”

According to her they never wished the destruction of their sister nor their family and while she could heed her father’s call to just stay out of the issue, she realized that, “Puede akong manahimik pero hindi ako matatahimik.”

She noted that they are “not willing participants in Claudine’s war against Raymart” however she was “forced” to speak out when her younger sister named them in her complaint-affidavit while “weaving her tale of ‘abusive sisters.’”

She likewise underscored that Raymart is “telling the truth.”

What came next was anything like what people expected. It was then that Gretchen reminded her father about how he supposedly staged a heart attack last January 2011 to get Claudine confined at a hospital basement “for her severe drug abuse and mental condition.”

She added that, “The following month, Claudine's treatment for drug abuse was continued in a private clinic in Chana, Thailand.”

The former Princess and I actress even revealed that their family “for the longest time, struggled with the problem of how to deal with Claudine's problem.”

But despite all the derisive words thrown their way, Gretchen underscored that they do “care” for Claudine.

“Sadly, they mistake our concern as envy, and our refusal to support their lies as betrayal,” she wrote.

In the end, she said that she’s still “in desperate search” of the Claudine that they used to know.

“In a perfect world when I dream everything and anything is possible, I'd like to believe that I can see the vibrant, loving, caring, generous and beautiful Claudine, come back. I believe that it is up to my parents to own up to the truth to make this possible.

“It is not important now to point fingers as to who, what, why. We do not need to cover up anyone's stories or put up a front to avoid shame. We are beyond that. We hear Claudine's cry for help. Why can't you?” she ended.