Ricci Rivero calls out social media user who wished for his family's death in God's name
Basketball star Ricci Rivero called out a social media user who criticized his family and hoped for their deaths in God’s name.
On his official Facebook page, Ricci recently shared screenshots of a comment made by a Facebook member that read, “Etong pamilya ni Ricci Rivero dinadamay pa si God sa mga pinagsasabi nila. Kunin mo na nga sila God para matahimik na mga yan.”
Ricci also shared the Internet user's Facebook and Instagram profiles.
"If you think wishing death for my family makes you noble,” he wrote in the caption, "I think your fascination with showbizness needs some serious reflection."
The comments came after Ricci publicized his relationship with beauty queen-turned-politician Leren Mae Bautista.
His parents previously gave their blessing to their romance and mentioned the name of God in their comments.
His father Paolo told them to “always put God in the center of your relationship,” while his mother Abigail said, “God will end a relationship if it’s toxic.” Abigail was seemingly alluding to her son’s previous relationship with actress Andrea Brillantes.
In Rivero’s callout post, Paolo wrote a lengthy comment, saying the reason why they “always ask God for guidance and blessings is because we know we are on the right side.”
“Time will come we will know who's lying and who's not,” he said, without naming anybody. “We may be outnumbered now but I truly believe that if God is with you, who can be against you.”
Paolo also threw shade at someone who spreads false information “just to gain sympathy.” He referred to the unknown person using feminine identifiers “iha,” “her,” and “she.”
“She might not be talking in public but definitely she's asking her friends to post and spread false rumors,” Paolo said. “[A]lam mo 'yan iha… I can only wish all the best iha and when the time comes at lumabas na ang tutuo i just hope maka bawi ka pa. We really feel sorry for you coz misguided ka ng mga naka paligid sayo.”
Ricci's previous relationship with Andrea started in April 2022. They confirmed their breakup in June this year.
A month before that, Ricci spent his birthday with Leren in Los Baños and distributed food packs to constituents.
This sparked dating rumors between them, but Leren denied this and said it was an outreach activity that’s “not an indication of a romantic relationship between them.”
In the coming weeks, Ricci and Leren would be spotted together in several locations, holding hands in public, jogging in the park, and watching a basketball game.