Pacquiao has a scheduled fight, his last before retirement, against Timothy Bradley in Las Vegas on April 9. “If I would be asked to represent boxing, why not?”
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“For my body to recover from all my fights will be for the rest of my life”, the American, an Olympic bronze medallist in the featherweight division at Atlanta 1996, said.
There is no stopping Manny Pacquiao from professing his faith as the boxing great posted another Bible verse on his social media accounts, a move that was interpreted by others as a new swipe to those who criticized him after his pronouncements on same-sex marriage. In his comment on Saguisag’s letter, Bautista thinks it is possible to block the airing of promotional ads but stopping the fight is another thing.
Likewise, the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente) urged Pacquiao to postpone his fight if he believes in having an “equal playing field among candidates”.
“We’re not anxious about it and it’s just a publicity gimmick”, said Pacquiao adviser Mike Koncz yesterday from General Santos City where the boxer, who is running for a Senate seat in the May 9 elections, is holding his training camp. “That’s why we thought that the best recourse is to ask him to comment”, Bautista added.
“The Comelec en banc approved the recommendation of the law department that Rep. Pacquiao be directed to submit his comment to the letters of Rep. Bello and Saguisag within five days from receipt of the notice”, he said, referring to former Akbayan party-list congressman Walden Bello and former senator Rene Saguisag.
But Bautista said the 2007 resolution was different from this case at hand since Pacquiao is running for a national office.
Prior to joining the legislature, Pacquiao was widely known as a world-renowned boxer.
Malacañang prefers to let the Comelec decide if Pacquiao could be disqualified as a senatorial bet if his bout with Bradley pushes through.
“We have some form of control, or regulatory supervision, over entities which have a franchise during the election period”, Andres Bautista, chairman of the Commission on Elections, said.
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According to Brillantes, the pay-per-view nationwide coverage “appears to be analogous to a product endorsement of a candidate”. “But it’s been a long time since 2007 and it does not necessarily bind the commission”, Jimenez said, reports the Philippine Star.
