The office of Los Baños municipal councilor Leren Mae Bautista, a former beauty queen, issued a statement addressing her alleged association with Ricci Rivero.
"We want to make it clear that these claims are entirely false and have no basis in reality," the statement read.
It further went on claiming that the "the recent outreach activity in which Councilor Leren participated with Ricci Rivero is not an indication of a romantic relationship between them."
"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 statement said.
"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," it added.
Her office explained that the recent outreach activity was organized as part of the councilor’s ongoing efforts to serve people and contribute to the welfare of her community.
Bautista’s office encourages people to stop creating malicious and insinuating comments on social media, calling on everyone to understand the importance of fact-checking information shared across various internet platforms.
According to the statement, the event is only one of Bautista's ongoing attempts to assist the people of Los Baños, and the office was forced to remove a viral video "depicting Ricci's belated celebration with his friends" due to rising worries "about potential misinterpretation by viewers."
Meanwhile, Rivero did not explicitly state that he and Andrea Brillantes had broken up last week, but he requested seclusion in order to "preserve what's left of our friendship."
