MANILA, Philippines — Presidential aspirant Manny Pacquiao said Saturday evening that he remains firm in his controversial stand against same-sex marriages, but claimed that many supporters from the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning) still supported him.
Speaking on "The Jessica Soho Presidential Interviews", the senator said he does not support same-sex unions.
Related Stories
"Hindi ako pabor diyan. (I am not in favor of that)," Pacquiao said.
"Iyan po ay bilang sa paniniwala natin, sa faith natin sa Panginoon, kailangan doon tayo sa gusto ng Panginoon. (We need to follow what God wants for us)," he added.
Pacquiao has openly discussed his anti-same sex marriage sentiments, drawing flak in 2016 after a video interview posted on Bilang Pilipino Facebook page made round online.
During the interview, he described those who engage in male to male, or female to female relations are "worse than animals."
He clarified afterwards that he was "not condemning" the LGBT community, saying that he was "just telling the truth of what the Bible says."
'Misquoted'
The retired boxer, who is the top presidential bet of the Abag-Promdi party, claimed on Saturday evening that he was not quoted properly on his statement.
"Na-misquote lang po talaga ako. Mali lang po 'yung pagka-intindi sa akin. Mahaba po 'yung explanation ko dun sa paliwanag ko na iyon," he said.
(I was mis-quoted. I was misunderstood. My explanation on that was long.)
Despite his controversial statements, Pacquiao claimed that he has the support of many members from the LGBTQ community.
"In fact, mas maraming pong mga supporters ako ngayon ng LGBTQ na sumusuporta sa atin at naniniwala sa akin," he said.
(In fact, I have more supporters now from the LGBTQ community who support and believe in me.)