Nike says it strongly opposes any discrimination and has a history of standing up for LGBT rights. In a previous interview on “Bilang Pilipino”, a Philippine elections coverage campaign, the boxing icon compared humans to animals, saying the former is worse than the latter for not being able to recognize the roles of males and females, as far as sexual interests are concerned. “They know how to distinguish male from female”. “If men mate with men and women mate with women, they are worse than animals”.
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Eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao does not mind losing his Nike sponsorship, amid the scandal he is now involved in.
“The criticism against Pacquiao has no effect on us”, said Annabelle Magsipoc, a government employee, told Reuters Television, adding that the boxer retains popular support in the community.
Upon announcing his plans to stand in the elections in 2016, Pacquiao said: ‘In the coming days, I will be embracing new levels of responsibility.
Many ordinary Filipinos believe Pacquiao made a mistake in his remarks on same-sex marriage because he hurt some sensibilities.
A Nike statement released on Wednesday said the company no longer wanted anything to do with Pacquiao because of his comments.
Pacquiao issued an apology on social media on Tuesday, shortly after the initial controversy broke.
‘It’s common sense, ‘ Pacquiao said. Collins wrote on Twitter, that he had lost all respect for the boxer and that his bigoted stance should prevent he holding public office.
In Speaking with reporters Friday (Feb 19), Pacquiao, who plans to retire to pursue a career in politics after his fight in April against Timothy Bradley, made it clear that his belief that being gay is wrong is unwavering, but he agrees that he shouldn’t have compared people who are gay to animals. “I mean I am just stating the truth, what the Bible says”, said Pacquiao (37). “I don’t think it’s amusing”, Batista said to TMZ.
“Surely, the said boxing event is a newsworthy event and a historical one as it will feature the last or final fight of Pacquiao who is considered as pride of the Filipino people; a world class fighter”, he said. But the controversy has dominated the local media, and gay rights campaigners have expressed outrage.
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“Our courts, under the doctrine of territoriality, have no jurisdiction over offenses committed by a person outside the territory of the Philippines, except if it involves national security of the country”.
