Manny Pacquiao is someone who would normally appease everyone with his actions and beliefs; but this time, he is on the opposite end.
A video shown on Facebook saw the Saranggani Province congressman comparing same-sex marriage individuals to animals. Pacquiao was quoted of saying that people into such are worse than animals and such sparked outrage from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.
Among the people who reacted were local TV personalities such as "Vice Ganda" and Aiza Seguerra, although there were a whole lot more who were not afraid to condemn Pacquiao for his remarks.
Manny said sorry. Apology accepted. But i will still not vote for him. Manny for boxing not for Senate. #Respect
— jose marie viceral (@vicegandako) February 16, 2016
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Pacquiao would later on apologize for the slur, but the damage had already been done. Despite saying sorry to the people who were offended, Pacquiao made it clear that he's standing pat on his stance regarding the matter.
With that development, the issue may hurt Pacquiao's chances of winning a senatorial seat in the coming Philippine national elections this May.
The eight-time division champion is favored to book one of the 12 available senatorial seats, although it remains to be seen if his position could change in light of these unfortunate development.
Before that, Pacquiao will be fighting Timothy Bradley Jr. at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas this April, reportedly his last fight before he devotes his full time to public office.
Even though he has repeatedly said it would be his last match, Pacquiao hinted to AFP that the door is still open for one final match if it will be Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Ironically, Mayweather issued his own comment on Pacquiao's gay slur as well via TMZ.
Mayweather simply said that people should be left to live their own lives, a timely response since the gay slur issue made by Pacquiao came out.
The rant is no different from the one that heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury made several months back. Fury also got his share of criticism for his remarks.
