THE PHILIPPINES, MAY 18, 2012: It seems that the Filipino boxing champ has fallen from grace not from a boxing match but from his alleged nasty comments against homosexuals.
Following U.S. president Barack Obama’s support for same-sex marriage, Filipino boxing superstar and Sarangani congressman Manny Pacquiao slammed the president’s views by allegedly quoting passages from the Bible that gays should be put to death in an interview posted at Examiner.com.
The devout Catholic boxer’s comments have spurred a fury of angry netizens calling for an end to his Nike endorsement. Petitions from different organizations websites such as Change.org and Gay Marriage USA have been put up but were later put down.
A day after the storm of angry netizens, Examiner.com author Granville Ampong said Pacquiao was misquoted when he wrote the verse from the bible (Leviticus 20:13) which said that homosexuals should be put to death on his blog. Apparently, the Filipino ring icon did not quote the Bibilical verses but Ampong wrote that himself to illustrate what Pacquiao had said.
In an apology statement on the boxer’s official website (mp8.ph), Pacquiao said that he never said that gays should be put to death. However, he admitted that he is against gay marriage but not the gay population. He further explained that he has relatives and friends who are gays but still support them.
I’m just against gay marriage. I don’t even want to talk about the issue, but I was asked about it, so I gave my opinion," said Pacquiao.
Pacquiao’s arch enemy boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr. has expressed his all out support for Obama’s views and professed his support for gay marriage.
Former beauty queen Miriam Quiambao backed Pacquiao’s views saying "I think it is right that Pacquiao should stand for God’s law. I support him on this one."
