Joaquin “Jay-Jay” Barretto, the non-showbiz brother of Gretchen Barretto, has defended his sister against their mother Inday Barretto’s “shocking” and “hurtful” rants against her daughter.

“What bothers me most is that while she attacks my sister, Gretchen, and pictures her as evil personified, she seems to have forgotten the truth,” he had written in a statement published on PEP.ph. "You have lifted Claudine on a pedestal as the teleserye queen and labeled Gretchen nothing but an ST (sex trip) queen. But who took over the role of her parents, worked at the age of 12 and gave up her education to put her siblings to school? Who put food on the table, paid for the rent, electricity and hospital bills when dad suffered from his heart condition at least two times? Did you ever once stop her from doing all that because you loved her and wanted to protect her just like what you are now doing for Claudine?" he asked.

Joaquin also revealed that Claudine has been confined due to a mental illness in the past, contrary to his mother’s claims.

"May I remind you that it was you and dad who had her put in a hospital because you wanted to save her from destroying herself,” he wrote. "Yes, Claudine is going through rough times. Again. And if you truly love her, then you should take concrete steps to save her rather than hitting Gretchen simply because she is standing up to Claudine."

He likewise said that Claudine really did feel threatened by her niece Julia’s foray into show business, and that Gretchen was merely looking out for the young girl.

"If there is anyone who cared more for her niece, we all know it is Gretchen, as she has proven when she chose to protect me and my siblings for a long, long time,” he said. “This explains exactly why, as you said, we never complained about our childhood."

"[Please] put a stop to this before our family totally falls apart while there is still something to save," he pleaded to his mother.

(Photos courtesy of PEP.ph)