MANILA, Philippines - Manny Pacquiao took the opposite view on the same-*** marriage, going against US President Barack Obama’s stance and drawing sharp reactions from all over.
Obama spoke to ABC News the other day and was quoted as saying, “I think same-*** couples should be able to get married.”
Pacquiao, now in Los Angeles for his June 9 bout with American Timothy Bradley, also spoke on the touchy issue.
He’s not on the same page with Obama.
“God’s words first ... obey God’s law first before considering the laws of man,” Pacquiao, who is also against birth control, told National Conservative Examiner.
“God only expects man and woman to be together and to be legally married, only if they so are in love with each other. It should not be of the same *** so as to adulterate the altar of matrimony, like in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah of Old,” Pacquiao added.
But Filipino lawmakers castigated Pacquiao for his remarks against lesbians, gays, bi***uals and transgenders (LGBTs).
Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño said it was rather ironic for a man of Pacquiao’s stature to issue such statement disrespectful of others.
“Much as I respect Pacquiao’s views on the same *** marriage so should he respect the right of LGBTs to live,” Casiño said.
Pacquiao also drew flak from Valenzuela Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo, who said he should be very careful in quoting passages from the bible.
“We should not be reckless in quoting the bible. The bible is not that easy to interpret,” Gunigundo said.
He however also defended Pacquiao against allegations he might have committed a serious diplomatic lapse for his harsh criticisms against the position of the US president.
“I believe (Congressman) Pacquiao was speaking on his own personal capacity. When he made that pronouncement, he was not speaking in behalf of the Philippine government nor in behalf of the House of Representatives,” Gunigundo said.
CBS News wrote that Pacquiao “has come out swinging against President Barack Obama’s recent support of same-*** marriage” and that he “invoked the Bible when criticizing the president’s stance.”
CBS News headlined its story, “Manny Pacquiao – Congressman Pacquiao – rips President Obama for stance on gay marriage.”
“If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads,” Pacquiao also told National Conservative Examiner.
For this one, LA Weekly headlined an article as “Manny Pacquiao says gay men should be ‘put to death.’”
“I’m just reading from the bible and that’s what the bible says,” Team Pacquiao member Jake Joson quoted the 33-year-old champion as saying.
Pacquiao said he has nothing against President Obama, whom he met at the White House as he toured the United States before his fight with Shane Mosley last year.
He also said he has nothing against gay couples, and certainly he’s not despising them, adding that he has gay friends.
Joson said Pacquiao did not want to be further interviewed on the matter which the former said “is being blown out of proportion by some members of the media.”
Pacquiao is a changed man now, and speaks of nothing other than what the bible says.
“And he’s being asked to pay the price,” said Joson. – With report from Paolo Romero