Manny Pacquiao jumps to third spot in senatorial race after receiving backlash for anti-gay remarks

World-renowned boxer Manny Pacquiao is one of the leading candidates to win a senatorial seat in the upcoming May 9 Philippine election based on a recent poll, despite backlash that he received due to his anti-gay remarks earlier this year. 

Based on the survey conducted by Social Weather Station on April 18 to 20, Pacquiao received 37% of votes and is now lagging behind just two frontrunner, senators Franklin Drilon and Vicente Sotto III.

Pacquiao dipped in rankings earlier this year, at some point dropping from 11th to 14th spot based on a Pulse Asia survey conducted in February, and such was attributed to his anti-gay views. It can be recalled that Pacquiao provoked negative reactions from members and supporters of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community last February after making statements about same sex marriage in a video uploaded by a local TV news station, TV5, on its Facebook account.

Pacquiao has been very vocal about his faith ever since he became a Christian; he has been very bold about his beliefs and convictions.

He can be heard in the said video making statements of likening animals mating with same sex practices, stating that "animals are better because they can distinguish male from female." His remarks angered the members and supporters of the LGBT community, with many saying that it might affect his performance at the upcoming elections. 

Several sponsors also withdrew their support from the Filipino boxer. One of them is Nike, and such provoked some of Pacquiao's fans to stage a radical show of support by burning Nike shoes.

After drawing a lot of flak, the 37-year-old boxer made a public apology but continued to stand firm on his convictions about the issue. With regard to its effect on his candidacy, he shows no sign of being intimidated and goes on to say that if it is God's will that he wins, it will happen. 

In the remaining few weeks prior to the Philippine election, the world-renowned boxer gained his momentum and brought himself to the third spot of the senatorial race emerging victorious from his third face off with Timothy Bradley Jr. at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas last April 9.