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Boxing star and Philippine Senate candidate Manny Pacquiao apologized Tuesday for denouncing people in gay relationships as “worse than animals” but said he stood by his opposition to same-sex marriage.
Fellow Filipino celebrities were among those criticizing his remarks, made when a TV network asked candidates about their views on same-sex marriage.
“It’s just common sense,” Pacquiao said in the remarks posted online by the TV5 network. “Have you seen any animal having male-to-male or female-to-female relations?”
In an Instagram post, he said he was not condemning anyone, but was just expounding on a biblical truth and would rather obey God than obey “the desires of the flesh.”
Pacquiao has recently declared plans to retire after his third bout with Timothy Bradley on April 9 in Las Vegas with a guaranteed $20 million payday.
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