Comedian Vice Ganda lashed out against United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) senatorial aspirant Manny Pacquiao for his statement relegating gays as “worse than animals.”
In a series of tweets, Vice Ganda, who is Jose Marie Viceral in real life, turned the tables against the Filipino boxing icon, saying that sleeping with other women other than his wife is also a sin.
“Ang pagpatol sa parehong kasarian ay masahol pa sa hayup? E ang pakikiapid habang ika’y may asawa anung kababuyan ito? Pakisagot, Manny!”
(To engage in sexual relations with the same gender is worse than animals? Then what do you call sleeping with other women while you’re still married? Please answer, Manny!)
“Manny, ‘di ka namin mapipigil kung gusto mong husgahan ang mga bakla sa mundo. Siguraduhin mo [lang] na ‘di ka namin makakasalubong sa impyerno,” Vice Ganda said.
(Manny, we cannot stop you from judging all the gays in the world. Just make sure that we won’t see you in hell.)
He even slammed Pacquiao for being a “false prophet” and dissed him for his absenteeism in the House of Representatives.
“Ang kailangan sa Senado ay mga bihasa sa pulitika, sa batas, sa ekonomiya. Hindi mga bulaang propeta.”
(What we need in the Senate are those who are experienced in politics, law, and economics—not false prophets.)
“Manny, maganda yung pagattend mo sa mga prayer meeting mo. Pero ‘di masama kung umattend ka din sana noon sa kongreso,”
(Manny, it’s good that you are attending your prayer meetings but it wouldn’t hurt if you will attend sessions in Congress.)
In an interview, the Sarangani representative said that by using “common sense,” one will be able to discern that “there are no animals who engage in sex with the same gender.”
READ: Pacquiao compares gays to animals, draws flak on social media
Using an analogy, Pacquiao said that if persons engage in same-sex relations, then they are worse than animals.
“Common sense lang. Makakakita ka ba ng any animals na lalaki sa lalakI, babae sa babae? Mas mabuti pa yung hayop. Marunong kumilala kung lalaki, lalaki, o babae, babae. Kung lalaki sa lalaki, babae sa babae, eh mas masahol pa sa hayop ang tao,” the Filipino boxer turned lawmaker said.
(It’s only common sense. Would you see any species of animals who engage in male to male, female to female [sexual] relations? Animals, then, are better than humans [in that sense]. They know how to distinguish males from females. If people then engage in male to male, female to female relations, then they are worse than animals.)
Pacquiao was previously linked to other women such as Krista Ranillo and Kat Ordonez while being married to his wife Jinkee.
Vice Ganda was not the only one who twitted Pacquiao as singer Aiza Seguerra called the senatorial aspirant a “hypocrite.”
Meanwhile, the boxer’s statement did not also sit well with Ladlad, a national organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Filipinos. The group said that Pacquiao’s view “betrays a shallow understanding of sexual orientation and gender identity, nay, even the very basics of science.”
“To say that animals are better because males of the species sniff and have sex only with females of the species is to be ignorant of the fact that homosexuality is found in all forms of creation—from plants to animals, and yes, even to people,” the group’s statement read.
They urged Pacquiao and his advisers to “bone up” on LGBT issues, adding that failure to do so would leave him to the Dark Ages “when the cavemen ruled and the numbskulls roamed the earth.”
Despite drawing flak on social media, Pacquiao remained one of the popular candidates for the Senate. In the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, the “fighting congressman” was in eighth place with 35 percent of respondents picking him as one of their preferred senatorial candidates. AJH