Filipino Olympic champion Carlos Yulo's mother mulls legal action over 'untrue' social media posts

Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo. Photo from Yulo's Instagram

"The public is hereby informed that all statements made attributed to Mrs. Yulo and/or any of her children that are critical of, disparaging or tend to tarnish the accomplishments of her son, Carlos Edriel Yulo, are untrue, fake, and mere products of imagination and fantasy by heretofore unknown individuals," Angelica’s attorney Raymond Fortun said in a Facebook post published on Aug. 5.

He further revealed that Angelica had given two interviews to mainstream media, but "only her comments regarding her relationship with Ms. [Chloe] San Jose [Carlos’ girlfriend] were uploaded."

He thus cautioned the public against sharing the alleged "fake posts" and making "harsh and libelous comments" against Angelica, which could be prosecuted under the Anti-Cybercrime Law, and advised the public to delete their comments to avoid potential prosecution.

He also announced Angelica’s plan to work with the Philippines’ National Bureau of Investigation to identify and prosecute the individuals responsible for the defamatory remarks.

According to PhilStar, Fortun’s statement was in response to social media posts that alleged a financial rift between Angelica and Carlos. The news outlet also reported that one of the interviews mentioned by Fortun was with Bombo Radyo, where Angelica discussed her strained relationship with Carlos and attributed it to San Jose.

A day after Fortun’s statement, Carlos released a video on his TikTok account, where he appeared alongside San Jose. Defending San Jose against his mother’s accusations of financial exploitation, the gymnast explained that his girlfriend had her own income, as per The Manila Times.

He also highlighted that his mother "had been draining" his earnings and mentioned discrepancies in her reporting of his incentives, as reported by the Inquirer.

According to him, Angelica failed to disclose that she had received his incentives from the 2022 World Championships, where he won two medals and thus should have received a six-figure amount. Instead, she falsely informed him that she had received an incentive of 70,000 pesos (US$1,221) from the 2021 World Championships, he said.

Still, he conveyed his forgiveness towards his mother in the video, urging her to "heal" and "move on."

At 24, Carlos is recognized as the most accomplished Filipino gymnast in history, according to Forbes. He became the second Filipino ever to win an Olympic gold medal and the first to clinch multiple gold medals at the games after triumphing in men’s floor and vault events at this year’s Paris Olympics.

He is expected to receive several honors from the Philippine government, including a three-bedroom condo valued at 32 million pesos in Manila, as reported by Fortune magazine.