Actress Andrea Brillantes appears to have reacted to her ex-boyfriend basketball player Ricci Rivero’s “hard launch” post on beauty queen-turned-politician Leren Bautista.
Brillantes, in an Instagram post on Oct. 22, shared a carousel of her selfies and moments with friends with an excerpt from Kali Uchis’s Hasta Canto. The lyrics read: “Whatever makes you feel better / Paint me as the villain if that makes you feel better / Make everyone hate me if that makes you feel better / Hmm, whatever makes you feel better / Your girl talks s—t about me just to feel better / About the fact that you’re still obsessed with me years later.”
Rivero, in an Instagram post on Oct. 21, confirmed his romance with Bautista, writing a heartfelt letter about finding “the right one.”
“Hindi tayo magtatago dahil walang dapat ikahiya. Walang nang-agaw at walang inagaw,” he said. “Walang bibitaw dahil masaya tayong magkahawak kamay.”
Rivero promised to “never again live a life manipulated by someone’s fantasy” without naming anyone.
On the heels of his post, Brillantes’s close friend Bea Borres on X (formerly Twitter) wrote a cryptic tweet that read, “lol hanggang hard launch nag mamalinis lmfao no,” without naming anyone.
A few minutes before that, Borres also tweeted, “TIME IS THE ULTIMATE TRUTH TELLER,” a reference to Bea Alonzo’s statement after her ex Gerald Anderson confirmed his romance with Julia Barretto, who’s an alleged third party in their relationship.
Rivero caught wind of Borres’s words and quote tweeted it with a fierce response.
“Puro tweet bea gusto mo maglabasan tayo ng labada?” he said.
“Tara sabihan tayo kung sino talaga kumakabit? Hingi ka lifeline para may bala ka bago ka mag reply publicly for your publicity,” Rivero continued. “Sayang pakikiaalam mo kung di ka kasama sa headline.”
Rivero’s previous relationship with Brillantes started in April 2022. They confirmed their breakup in June this year.
A month before that, Rivero spent his birthday with Bautista in Los Baños in Laguna, where she’s a councilor, and distributed food packs to constituents.
This sparked dating rumors between them, but Bautista denied this and said it was an outreach activity that’s “not an indication of a romantic relationship between them.”
In the coming weeks, Rivero and Bautista would be spotted together in several locations, holding hands in public, jogging in the park, and watching a basketball game.
