Manila, Philippines | AFP | The Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao was criticized for having declared, as part of his campaign for the Senate elections in the Philippines, that homosexual couples are “worse than animals.”
It’s common sense. Have you ever seen animals mate with animals of the same sex? Animals are better because they distinguish between males and females, “said the boxer in an interview with Philippine network TV5 broadcast on Monday.
“Men who mate with men and women who mate with women are worse than animals,” he added.
Educated in Catholicism, like 80% of Filipinos, Pacquiao converted to evangelism in the early 2010s, claiming to have been chosen by God to spread the message of Christ.
The boxer campaigns with the Bible in a pocket in an extremely conservative line.
Gay marriage is not legal in the Philippines.
Vice Ganda, the nation’s most popular gay actor, asked his 6.7 million Twitter followers to pray for Pacquiao, who is preparing to hang up his gloves in April.
“Some believe that they can judge people as if they were God simply because they pray and read the Bible,” writes Vice Ganda.
“The Senate needs political and legal experts, not blind prophets,” he added.
The singer Aiza Seguerra, who recently married in an unrecognized union with her partner, asked voters to censor the boxer at the polls, whom she describes as an “ignorant and intolerant hypocrite.”
“You may have filled the country with pride, but with your statement, you showed the whole country why we should not vote for you,” he wrote on Instagram.
A member of the House of Representatives, Pacquiao is seeking one of twelve senator seats, which will be elected in May. The latest polls give you a good chance of hitting your goal.
Pacquiao: Gay couples ‘worse than animals’
