“What is clear is there is a wide, gaping rift between Gretchen and Marjorie and Claudine — a great divide not even the President of the Philippines can fix.

Why does the Barretto sisters’ word war cause us to stop in our tracks, drop everything and listen in rapt attention to what they are saying against each other?

Is it because the Barrettos’ beauty remains legendary and we like to look upon their faces more than listen to the bombs they are spewing?

Is it because we thirst for distraction when every day we would like to forget the traffic, the pollution, the endless problems and challenges, the hurts, pains, discomforts, worries, weariness, dismay, disgust, sadness and frustrations?

Is it because the cast of characters are so totally unexpected, including Atong Ang?

His was the name that became national fodder for a time when he was seen via CCTV together with former President Joseph Estrada in a casino back in 2001 when the Philippines’ most popular actor/politician was the resident in Malacañang.

After Erap was impeached, Atong Ang was incarcerated for two years for “corrupting public officials.”

An Esquire Philippines article, quoting Rappler, says, “The report said Ang triggered the rift between Estrada and then Ilocos Sur Governor and jueteng lord Luis ‘Chavit’ Singson. Estrada allegedly gave Ang the green light to operate jueteng, which threatened to put Singson out of his illegal business.” Miffed, “Singson accused Ang and Estrada of pocketing P130 million from tobacco excise taxes.”

Now, the self-proclaimed gambling lord seems to have triggered something else entirely.

A family feud has ensued on a national scale allegedly over whose boyfriend Ang is. Wowza.

It began with a scuffle at a wake. The Barretto patriarch had passed away from an illness. Family, relatives, friends, colleagues and possibly fans came. The daughters came. Sadness reigned. Reconciliations seemed imminent. Then Atong Ang happened.

An ungainly scuffle caused a nation to break from daily cares. My, my. This was juicier than the love triangle controversy that also involved a Barretto beauty and social media!

And now we know for sure that the Barretto family saga continues.

Karen Davila in a television interview last Tuesday would be happy to know how her one-on-one with Marjorie Barretto had everyone transfixed, as the latter aired her side of the story.

Apparently, the middle sister has had enough. Marjorie said she chose to speak up after “five years of her being quiet — five years of character assassination against me and all of my children.”

One thing we learned, aside from the fact that Marjorie speaks really well and can express her thoughts so clearly, is that Atong Ang is again a trigger — but of what, this time, remains unclear.

What is clear is there is a wide, gaping rift between Gretchen and Marjorie and Claudine — a great divide not even the President of the Philippines can fix.

While it is truly sad to consider why it came to be so — to be in a family blessed with such genes that had been instrumental in bringing them much success and opportunity in life, yet be ever and constantly be embroiled in ugly public fights — we, as Filipinos, must wonder why we are so involved in this.

They say it is a foreign concept for Pinoys to steer clear of other people’s business. We all love a good chismis (gossip) no matter our standing in life.

And while some may wonder if or why this particular one deserves space in this section, well — President Rodrigo Duterte was there.

The Chief Executive, wishing to pay his respects to the late Barretto patriarch, was right in the middle of the sisterly spat, literally.

It would have been funny if it were fiction, but how surreal that it was all happening in real life!

Apparently, Atong Ang — who had, by the way, already clarified his relationship with the Barrettos as purely non-romantic — was the central figure that caused Nicole (the daughter of the famous sisters’ brother JJ) to be upset.

Atong was due to arrive with Gretchen and Nicole and her cousins had been asked to leave. Nicole, Marjorie revealed, had been Ang’s girlfriend of almost five years, and that Gretchen “stole” him from their niece. Such things may be better off in the entertainment pages, but then again, this time, well — the President was there!