Verbal exchange involving actress Gretchen Barretto and Senator Bato dela Rosa is getting hotter by the minute.
After Bato refuted her allegations he is involved in e-sabong, Gretchen retorted she is "very willing" to present "evidence" pertaining to the same.
On Instagram, the 52-year-old even presented a challenge: "Time & place? Hurry pls."
https://www.instagram.com/p/CbsXC6oBF-O/
Note Gretchen's post also included a screenshot of Bato's interview with SMNI News.
In there, Bato reacted to Gretchen commenting on his "expensive" watch: "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."
As to Gretchen claim's that he is among the “players” of e-sabong, he said: "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."
Bato reiterated he's not "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."
The retired police general deemed Gretchen's action "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."