Several Facebook pages are claiming that Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked tennis star Alex Eala to endorse the former’s LGBT advocacy at upcoming international tournaments. This is not true.
VERA Files traced one of the earliest copies of the claim to a March 30 FB post. It featured photos of Hontiveros and Eala with a caption that reads:
“BREAKING NEWS: ‘I am an athlete, not a tool for your political agenda.’ Alex Eala made a bold and unapologetic statement when asked by Risa Hontiveros to endorse and allow the use of her image for LGBT advocacy at upcoming international tournaments. Eala’s response reportedly infuriated Risa, but the tennis star stood her ground, stressing that she keeps her professional role on the court separate from political issues. Before Risa could react or respond, Eala delivered a quick 15-second statement that ended the matter, winning widespread praise from fans and leaving many to call it a powerful lesson for Risa.”
Earlier that day, another FB page posted the same caption but edited it on Apr. 2 to backtrack after it was fact-checked.
Other personalities like former broadcaster Jay Sonza and political analyst Malou Tiquia, whose past claims have both been fact-checked by VERA Files, have amplified the claim on FB and X (formerly Twitter), respectively.
In an April 1 advisory on her official FB account, Hontiveros wrote, “STOP THE LIES!” denying that she requested such endorsements from Eala.
A cursory search shows no credible media reports or posts from Eala’s official social media pages where she made any remarks against Hontiveros as claimed by the FB posts.
While the other FB posts featured authentic photos of the senator and the tennis sensation, posts by Sonza and another page on April 1 used images of the two that are likely generated using artificial intelligence, with two AI detection tools flagging them as deepfakes.
Both Hontiveros and Eala have frequently been subjects of online disinformation that VERA Files has debunked in recent years.
The spurious posts by multiple FB pages, including Tennis Spot (created Feb. 4, 2026) and Tennis Network (March 20, 2025) — both managed by people based in Vietnam — collectively amassed 33,505 reactions; 6,325 comments and 2,503 shares as of writing. Two copies were also republished on X, gaining relatively low traction.
