CLEARING THE AIR ON MANNY PACQUIAO'S ALLEGED "HOMOPHOBIC SLUR"

Source: mp8.ph

It has been some time now since I last posted on this blog site, but today, I was moved to write this piece out of indignation over the inaccuracies surrounding the alleged "homophobic slur" by Manny Pacquiao. I take specific reference to this recent article in  the British newspaper Daily Mail.

First of all,  those  five English words: "they are worse than animals" were not said by Manny at all.  He was interviewed in Pilipino, his command of which can be questioned given that  he grew up in General Santos City in South Cotabato, where the  Visayan dialect is widely spoken.   His exact words were: "ngayon kung lalaki sa lalaki o babae sa babae,  eh  mas masahol pa sa hayop ang tao,"  which when literally translated would read: "now if it were man to man, or woman to woman, then people would be worse than animals."  Never did Manny  outrightly state  that "they (LGBT members) are worse than animals."    I am not an English Language nor a Linguistics  major but  this is my take on what happened-- Manny  was speaking in the subjunctive  in Pilipino, which was interpreted in English in the  declarative mood.    As a native speaker of the language,  I  find his interview  in Pilipino devoid of  any deliberate  intent to "slur"--  that is,  neither to insult nor to damage the reputation  of the LGBT community.   Manny was simply stating his position on   same-sex marriage, which he believes is  a sin based on his religious convictions.   Click on this link to view the "uncut" and  "full" video of the interview.   To those who can understand Pilipino,  you can  see for yourself that the English subtitles were obviously not a literal translation but an interpretation  of what was said by Manny, who at the end of the video even  clarified  in English that he was " not condemning them (the LGBT community)."

Second,  the  talent contract of  Manny Pacquiao with Nike ended in 2014,  as clarified by Manny's manager Arnold Vegafria.    Nike, until recently, served only as "apparel  sponsor" to Manny-- so what  were those  Nike  millions   that Daily Mail was  referring to?  Please click on this link to listen to  Arnold Vegafria's interview, again in Pilipino.

Third,  the Daily Mail wrote: "Yet he (Manny Pacquiao) stands condemned now as a bigot."  What is a "bigot?"   A  dictionary meaning:  "one who is intolerant toward those holding different opinions from oneself."

Nike issued this statement in reaction to the  comments by Manny:

"We find Manny Pacquiao’s comments abhorrent. Nike strongly opposes discrimination of any kind and has a long history of supporting and standing up for the rights of the LGBT community. We no longer have a relationship with Manny Pacquiao.”

By terminating its relationship with Manny,  was Nike  not being intolerant toward someone holding a different opinion from itself?