Businessman Atong Ang finally spoke up amid the controversy linking him to the members of the women of the Barretto family. It can be recalled that Nicole Barretto accused her aunt Gretchen Barretto for "stealing" Atong from her. This was denied by Gretchen and remarked that it was Nicole who "stole" Atong from Claudine Barretto.

"Tungkol kay Nicole, mga four to 11 years ago ay nagkakasama kami ng mommy niya. Kung ano man ang relationship namin, walang kinalaman si Gretchen," Atong said in a statement he sent to ABS-CBN News.

He shared that Gretchen is just a business partner. "Si Gretchen kasosyo ko sa casino at saka sabong. Si Tonyboy Cojuangco, kasama ko rin sa casino. May junket ako sa mga casino, si Tony kasosyo ko sa Okada," he said."

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Atong stressed that Gretchen has nothing to do with his break up with Nicole. "Kung nagkahiwalay kami nila Nicole walang kinalaman si Gretchen. Ang relasyon namin ni Nicole, parang taga asikaso ng mga flights ko and schedule ko noon," he stated.

Meanwhile, Atong remarked that he used to help Claudine with her personal issues and that was just his connection to the actress. "Iyong relasyon kay Claudine, ako ang nag-ayos nang nagkaproblema sila ng anak ni Mayor Martin Castro -'yun lang ang naging relasyon namin," he relayed.

The businessman added that he used to send Nicole to school when her mother was working for him. "Si Nicole, pinagaral ko 'yan, ang nagtrabaho sa akin 'yung nanay niya. Si Gretchen malapit siya sa asawa ko," he concluded his statement.

Atong's connection with the Barretto family was dragged into the limelight after Nicole's statement about going to the US to "move on" from what transpired between her and Atong went viral on social media.