Laguna councilor and former beauty queen Leren Bautista denied her involvement to basketball star Ricci Rivero and her connection to the supposed breakup of Rivero and actress Andrea Brillantes.
Bautista was accused of being the third party after she shared a photo of the basketball player in her Instagram stories.
Rivero also had an outreach project in Laguna in celebration of his birthday.
“We would like to address the disinformation that has been circulating across social media platforms regarding Councilor Leren and her alleged romantic involvement with basketball player Ricci Rivero. We want to make it clear that these claims are entirely false and have no basis in reality,” the Bautista camp said in a statement.
“Councilor Leren Mae Bautista has dedicated herself to serving the community of Los Baños with utmost sincerity and integrity. Her commitment to public service has been shaped by the support and trust of the people she represents,” she added.
The camp of Bautista said that posts about Rivero on the beauty queen’s social media account was due to an outreach activity.
“The recent outreach activity in which Councilor Leren participated with Ricci Rivero is not an indication of a romantic relationship between them. The event was organized as part of Councilor Leren’s ongoing efforts to serve the people and contribute to the welfare of her community,” the post said.
The camp also explained why they have to remove the video of Ricci’s birthday celebration over possible misinterpretation.
“The video that went viral, depicting Ricci’s belated celebration with his friends, whose numerous other invited individuals joined, was taken down due to concerns about potential misinterpretation by viewers,” it said. “We encourage everyone to refrain from creating malicious and insinuating comments on social media. Likewise, we call on everyone to understand the importance of fact-checking information shared across various internet platforms,” Bautista’s camp said.
