Boxer turned politician Manny Pacquiao, who is seeking the presidency in the May 2022 election in the Philippines, claimed that “nagkaintindihan na… kami lahat (we’ve reached… an understanding)” with the LGBTQIA community and that he has, in fact, a lot of LGBTQIA supporters now, even if his anti-LGBTQIA beliefs remain.
Pacquiao was interviewed by veteran journalist Jessica Soho for GMA News/Public Affairs.
Seemingly trying to play safe, Pacquiao said that he continues to believe in “continuously looking after them, helping them (LGBTQIA Filipinos).”
But Pacquiao showed no remorse when he used to call LGBTQIA people as “worse than animals”. Instead, he said that he was simply “misquoted.” “Mali lang po yung pagkaintindi sa akin (I was misunderstood),” he said.
Still, Pacquiao said he does not support marriage equality because of his “faith in God” that tells him to follow “the will of God”.
Sadly, following the Western approach of of focusing interviews on LGBTQIA issues only on marriage equality, Soho did not ask Pacquiao about his stance on the anti-discrimination law, as well as the gender recognition law to protect the human rights of LGBTQIA Filipinos.
