AFP file photo

A group advocating marriage equality has suspended its petition for Nike to drop Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao from its list of endorsers after clarification about his comments on members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) community.

Gay Marriage USA earlier advocated for the athletic wear company because of Pacquiao’s supposed comments in an inteview with blogger Granville Ampong encouraging violence against LGBT members, particularly quoting the Bible passage Leviticus 20:13 that promoted violence on their members, which read: “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”

But Ampong clarified in a follow-up blog post that he wasn’t quoting Pacquiao, and he wrote that passage himself.

“The author (Granville Ampong) of the original article that created this Pacquiao uproar has now written a new article stating that the boxer never actually said that gays should be “put to death” – that is, the author’s writing was woefully misleading!” wrote Gay Marriage USA to explain the suspension of the petition.

The group also linked to a piece by the LGBT advocacy blog The New Civil Rights movement that took to task Ampong’s article.

“Ampong, in addition to being a terrible writer, now is blaming other journalists for his poor journalism skills, which frankly is embarrassing and offensive,” wrote David Badash on the blog.

“Bottom line: Pacquiao did not say gays ‘must be put to death,’ Ampong just wrote it that way.”

In an interview with GMA-7′s Chino Trinidad, Pacquiao said that he never spouted any Bible verses in his interview with Ampong. The boxer added that he could not have quoted quoted Leviticus, an Old Testament verse, because his ongoing Bible studies were focused on the New Testament.

Toting a 2-1 card, the Lady Stags duel with the defending champions at 4 p.m., hoping to dish out their best against the league’s best in an explosive match expected to go down-to-the-wire.

Although assured of a final four spot with an unbeaten 5-0 mark, the Lady Eagles are also expected to go for a win in their determined bid to go all the way to another championship in the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

Jeng Bualee of SSC and Ateneo’s Phee Nok Kesinee are likely to neutralize each other out in a duel of Thai imports, leaving the fight for the local crew of both squads to decide.

Ateneo actually has the slight edge with Alyssa Valdez, Dzi Gervacio, Fille Cainglet, Gretchen Ho and Jam Ferrer playing cohesive ball since the elims. But Joy Benito is expected to step up for SSC in this key match along with Dafna Robinos, Karen Bernano, Rubie de Leon and Ara Mallare with support from Mae Crisostomo, Joy Corpuz, Bea Uy and Jolina Labiano.

Far Eastern U and Adamson, meanwhile, shoot for a pair of wins against University of St. La Salle-Bacolod and National U, respectively, to keep their slim hopes alive in the tournament backed by Mikasa and Accel.

UST, with a 4-0 slate, is a cinch to clinch the second semis berth while Perpetual Help, with a 3-1 card, has the inside track for the No. 3 seat in the final four.

A victory by SSC will make it tougher for FEU and Adamson to gain a crack at the playoff for the last semis seat but the Lady Tams and the Falcons will surely be gunning for victories just the same.

FEU and USLS battle at 2 p.m. while Adamson collides with NU in the 6 p.m. main game. NU has a 0-3 mark while USLS is out with a 0-4 slate.

The first two games will be aired on a delayed basis on AKTV-13 starting at 7 tonight, according to the organizing Sports Vision.

Reuters

Manny Pacquiao was misquoted.

It sounds like a trite excuse for any athlete, something we’ve heard a million times before, but in Pacquiao’s case, this time, it’s true.

The Filipino champion has found himself in hot water over an interview with blogger Granville Ampong in Examiner.com. The interview dealt with Pacquiao’s opposition to United States president Barack Obama’s professed support for gay marriage.

Opposition to gay marriage is a perfectly valid position depending on one’s personal beliefs — presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney, Obama’s likely opponent in November’s US elections, already voiced his opposition to it.

What drew the ire of most of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual community, however, was Pacquiao’s quote of a Bible passage, Leviticus 20:13, that promoted violence on their members. It read: “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”

Because of that, LGBT groups are hitting Pacquiao where it would hurt most — his wallet. Gay Marriage USA has launched an online petition telling Nike to cease its sponsorship of Pacquiao. In its petition page, the group wrote: “Nike is a multi-billion dollar industry and LGBT people contribute billions to this company. It is completely unacceptable that such a high-profile company should be sponsoring a boxer who is encouraging violence towards LGBT people. Tell Nike to drop its sponsorship!”

Note that the group is taking issue not with Pacquiao’s opposition to gay marriage, but with his supposed encouragement of violence against members of the LGBT community.

Except, of course, Pacquiao never quoted that Bible passage. It was Ampong who wrote the passage himself, in the middle of the story. But he presented it in such a purposefully vague way that a less careful reader would in fact, attribute the quote to Pacquiao:

Engaging a radical shift as manifested by his insights shared during Bible studies which lasted more than one hour, around 10:00 p.m., with a song and his substantive prayer, Pacquiao counsels people to “just believe” what the Scripture says.

Pacquiao’s directive for Obama calls societies to fear God and not to promote sin, inclusive of same-sex marriage and cohabitation, notwithstanding what Leviticus 20:13 has been pointing all along: “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”

In a follow-up blog post, Ampong said writers who thought that it was Pacquiao who recited the quote lacked reading comprehension. So why did he put that quote in the middle of his piece purportedly about Pacquiao’s own beliefs? He wrote:

I have simply reminded in my column how God made it clear in the Old Testament time that such practice of same-sex marriage is detestable and strictly forbidden, in as much as God wants to encourage his people practices that lead to health and happiness and fullness of life.

Ampong is, of course, being switik. There is no reason for him to post his own personal beliefs, right smack in Pacquiao’s discussion of his faith, except to project them as the boxer’s own.

For most of Pacquiao’s career, he has been a champion of the Filipino people, and in that role, people have projected all kinds of things onto him — he’s religious, he’s hard-working, he loves his mother, he loves his country, he’s generous, etc. In our minds, Pacquiao is all that because we want him to be all that — and that’s because we ourselves want to be all that. We project ourselves — our very best version — onto him. And sometimes, he even lives up to it.

And that’s what Ampong was doing — he was projecting onto Pacquiao his values, his belief, and yes, his homophobia. Unfortunately, it’s a hateful, misguided projection, and Pacquiao’s now suffering for it.

Jaemark Tordecilla is the managing editor of InterAKTV.

AKTV/Mark Dimalanta

Last Sunday, Kaya FC was on the verge of winning against the Loyola Meralco Sparks before a late goal in extra time by James Younghusband forced a draw.

On Wednesday, it was Kaya’s turn to pull the rug from under its opponent, as Aly Borromeo scored a goal in the 92nd minute to salvage a split result versus league-leading Global FC in United League Football action at University of Makati.

Borromeo, the team captain of the Philippine national men’s football team, was playing in just his second game after returning from a knee injury he suffered in the UFL Cup last October. The Azkals defender checked in at the 78th minute for forward Nate Burkey in a surprise move.

Global looked well on its way to continuing its march to the league title, after Spanish-Filipino Azkal stalwart Carli De Murga broke through for a goal at the 31st minute. Global was in good position to pull out the win before Borromeo’s heroics.

The 1-1 draw halted the momentum of Global, which remained at the top of the table after the draw with 35 points over 15 matches. Kaya took second spot with 33 points over 15 matches, while idle Loyola remained in striking distance with 32 points over 14 matches.

Chang Kai Shek College, Ama Computer University, Ateneo-Team A and La Salle-Greenhills advanced to the Final Four after hurdling past their respective rivals in the Elite Eight of the Seaoil-NBTC Elite Basketball League recently at the Xavier University Gym.

Jeric Ang finished with 23 points and led Chang Kai Shek to a thrilling 64-56 overtime win over San Sebastian.

Ama Computer and De La Salle-Zobel also engaged in a tightly-fought battle in this 12-and-under event being organized by the National Basketball Training Center.

In the end, Ama, being handled by Mark Herrera, prevailed over De La Salle Zobel, 62-59.

Billy Tonedo erupted for 30 points and nearly single-handedly carried Ama Computer to a gripping victory.

Ateneo and La Salle-Greenhills easily dispatched their respective foes. The Eaglets ran roughshod over Lourdes School, 56-42, while the Junior Archers dumped the San Beda Red Cubs-Rizal, 71-50.

Joel Santos led the way for the Green Archers with 17 points.

Reuters

Gay Marriage USA, a group advocating marriage equality in the United States, has started a petition for athletic wear company Nike to drop Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao from its list of endorsers.

In its petition page, the group wrote: “Nike is a multi-billion dollar industry and LGBT people contribute billions to this company. It is completely unacceptable that such a high-profile company should be sponsoring a boxer who is encouraging violence towards LGBT people. Tell Nike to drop its sponsorship!”

The group was referring to comments made by Pacquiao in an interview with blogger Granville Ampong of Examiner.com about his opposition for US president Barack Obama’s professed support for gay marriage.

“God only expects man and woman to be together and to be legally married, only if they so are in love with each other,” Pacquiao was quoted as saying.

“It should not be of the same sex so as to adulterate the altar of matrimony, like in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah of Old.”

Gay Marriage USA also took offense to Pacquiao quoting the Bible passage Leviticus 20:13 that promoted violence on members of the LGBT community, which read: “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”

However, Ampong wrote in a follow-up blog post that Pacquiao never recited the offending passage, saying that he added it into the story himself.

Buncio died on May 15 last year after suffering serious injuries from a freak accident while racing at the Clark Speedway in Pampanga. He was thrown off his bike onto an unfinished part of the course where a metal bar punctured his body, causing internal injuries.

Among the issues discussed by the committee were the safety of race tracks and the response of emergency medical technicians or EMTs.

EMTs reportedly removed the piece of metal protruding from Buncio, which caused him to rapidly lose blood while he was being attended to.

The committee report listed the following recommendations:

1. To recommend amendments to the PSC Law (RA 6847) to add to its functions the authority to regulate motorsports and issue licenses and permits for the conduct of any competition;
2. To recommend to the Department of Health to institute accreditation or certification guidelines and requirements for ambulance services to ensure the provision of quality emergency medical services. The guidelines shall include, among others, the inclusion of at least one attending physician (or more depending on the kind of sports) in addition to EMT or nurse inside the ambulance equipped with adequate emergency medical equipment/tools and supplies;
3. To recommend to the Technical and Skills Development Authority to institute accreditation guidelines and requirements for Training Centers for Emergency Medical Technicians and to evaluate whether these centers meet international Paramedic Education Standard to ensure that only qualified training centers and EMTs are awarded with the necessary license or credential;
4. To urge or require race organizers to provide athletes with sufficient life and health insurance coverage as part of the MOA between NAMSAA and the organizer;
5. To recommend to the PSC to impose sanctions against the officers of NAMSAA by way of suspending financial assistance to the NAMSAA until such time that all racetracks shall have been inspected to ensure that these conform with international safety standards; and for the PSC to continuously monitor if NAMSAA discharges its duties and responsibilities accordingly to ensure the safety of the riders.

AKTV/Paolo Papa

Here are the most-viewed stories on InterAKTV last week:

1. MVP, Chot to meet with David Stern to discuss Sacramento Kings
2. PBA on controversial Game Seven play: ‘It was a foul’
3. VIDEO | Foul call on Kelly Williams
4. Missing Talk ‘N Text All-Stars face possible sanctions, says Salud
5. Last-second foul call seals Talk ‘N Text fate
6. New B-MEG import Blakely hopes to have same impact as Bowles
7. VIDEO | B-MEG Llamados locker room celebration
8. No signal in Laoag? Talk ‘N Text players fail to show up for All-Star Weekend
9. ‘Atom Bomb’ explodes as Greats nip Stalwarts in legends game
10. Caption This: Pingris celebrates like Sakuragi
11. B-MEG’s Game Seven victory one of the greatest in PBA history
12. Cone wants to build B-MEG dynasty
13. PHOTOS | Big Game James, Monster Bowles embrace at midcourt
14. Alaska, Meralco swap big men Jay-R Reyes, Gabby Espinas
15. PHOTOS | ‘The Captain’ gets emotional after Bowles’ big shots
16. In the background, SMC’s Ramon Ang savors B-MEG championship
17. VIDEO | End of regulation: B-MEG vs Talk ‘N Text Game Seven
18. The List: Top Centers in PBA History
19. Bowles of Steel: B-MEG import overcome with emotion after thrilling Game Seven
20. Talk ‘N Text top executives still fuming over Game Seven calls

AKTV/Leslie Sy

A couple of weeks ago, the PBA announced the approval of a trade that sent Doug Kramer from Powerade to Barako Bull in exchange for Jondan Salvador and a first round draft pick. In only his fifth season in the PBA, Kramer will be joining his fifth team. By all accounts, the bullstrong Kramer is a journeyman.

At Barako Bull, Kramer will be reunited with teammate Celino Cruz, who will be joining his seventh team in eight seasons in the league. A solid backup point guard, Cruz is a valuable piece in any team’s rotation — but not valuable enough to be part of the team’s core. So while he’s often serviceable, he’s never indispensable, making Cruz the prototype journeyman.

Today, player movement is very common. Coaches and officials are always actively negotiating to try to shore up their team’s weak spots. But trades can also be counter-productive, as it lengthens teams’ period of adjustment to develop chemistry. Talk ‘N Text, the league’s most successful franchise for the past two seasons, has had very minor personnel changes — which is why they are perhaps the most cohesive squad in the PBA today.

Trades weren’t exactly commonplace in the PBA’s early days. In fact, the very first trade in league history happened in the league’s third season in 1977. U/Tex coach Tommy Manatoco shipped superstar guard Danny Florencio and Jimmy Otazu to the 7-Up Uncolas for Cristino Reynoso — Big Boy’s younger brother — and Carlos Rodriguez. Florencio was already a household name then, having starred for several national teams and being one of the top players in the MICAA. The trade allowed him to set an all-time high season average of 32.3 points per game for his new team.

Trades can be very controversial, especially with fans hanging on to every piece of news and rumor. It has always worked that way in the PBA. In fact, one of the most ballyhooed player swaps in league history involved two of its greatest centers, Ramon Fernandez and Abet Guidaben, who were traded for each other, not once, but twice!

Guidaben and Fernandez were traded for each other not once, but twice

Curiously, even though he won two Most Valuable Player awards and is second in the league’s all-time scoring and rebounding list, Guidaben is also tied for the record for having played for most PBA teams — making him a true journeyman. He suited up for Crispa, Tanduay, Manila Beer, San Miguel Beer, Purefoods, Alaska, Shell and Pepsi over the course of his 22-season career.

The only other player to have played for eight different PBA teams may come as a surprise: Bong Alvarez, the PBA’s “Mr. Excitement”, who donned the jerseys of Alaska, Sta. Lucia, Shell, San Miguel, Ginebra, Talk ‘N Text, Air 21, and Red Bull over his career that spanned 16 years.

Indeed, in the PBA, journeymen aren’t necessarily role players. Fernandez, a four-time MVP winner and the league’s all-time leader in scoring and rebounding, played for five teams: Toyota, Beer Hausen, Tanduay, Purefoods, and San Miguel — although his transfer from Toyota to Beer Hausen and Tanduay to Purefoods was a result of the franchise folding up, and not because he was traded.

Another all-time great, three-time MVP Bogs Adornado, could also be considered a journeyman, having carried the colors of Crispa, U/Tex, Great Taste, Shell, and Alaska.

More recently, Vergel Meneses, the league’s MVP in 1995, saw action for seven teams: Presto, Sta. Lucia, Swift/Sunkist/Pop Cola, Ginebra, FedEx, Red Bull, and Talk ‘N Text. And Willie Miller, a two-time MVP, is on his fifth squad, having seen action for Red Bull, Talk ‘N Text, Alaska, Ginebra, and Barako Bull.

With trades and player movement happening more and more often in the PBA today, don’t be surprised if the record shared by Guidaben and Alvarez ends up getting toppled.

And while getting traded and moving teams may not be ideal for players, it’s up to them to make the most out of their situation. After all, even some of the greatest players to ever play in the PBA were themselves journeymen.

Jay P. Mercado is a highly-regarded PBA amateur historian. He serves as a consultant for the PBA Greatest Games broadcast on Pinoy X-treme.

Reuters

Manny Pacquiao’s chief trainer Freddie Roach and Joel Diaz, his counterpart in the Timothy Bradley camp, both predicted their wards will pull off a knockout come their June 9 title fight.

Saying that all fights should end ideally via knockout, Roach averred: “I don’t see it going the distance.”

For his part, Diaz, who together with Roach, Pacquiao and Bradley appeared in HBO’s “Face Off” interview aired over the weekend, also vowed to “look for a stoppage.”

“We will get him out of there in the late rounds,” Roach said. “We’re training hard for this.”

Diaz countered saying no one trains harder than Bradley who will be ready to mix it up until the time he’s ready to end the fight.

Responding to Roach’s projection, Bradley, the unbeaten junior-welterweight champion out to end the Pacquiao’s reign as 147-pound kingpin, remarked, ”They don’t know, man. They really don’t know.”

“Come break down this wall,” he said, adding he felt he could beat Pacman, and called himself a wall because he cannot be broken.

Roach said they can break the wall. But Diaz said his ward gets stronger later in the bout and the only way to win over him is to be wise “and try to stop him early. My guy will be extra careful early.”

Pacquiao, meanwhile, said he only wants to give the fans a great bout, and that he’ll pray for Bradley and himself that no serious injury happens in their 12-round showdown.

“God bless you,” Pacquiao told Bradley.

Roach said Pacquiao has learned his lesson from his last fight against Juan Manuel Marquez and, this time, the eight-division belt-owner will come prepared to erase the stigma of that lackluster performance.

“Manny underestimated Juan Manuel Marquez in his last outing, so he wanted to make sure he was mentally charged this time around,” he asserted.

Asked by program host Max Kellerman what would happen if he gets buzzed early. Bradley retorted that he will stay in the game, and stay resolute.

“I want to feel the pain,” he said. “Bring it on, I’m up for the challenge, bring it on. Yes, there will be toe to toe trading,” Bradley said. “Chances will need to be taken.”

Bradley admitted though that getting a chance to fight Pacquiao is “an honor. I got to say, I am happy for the man that he will make upwards of million for the bout, but I really don’t want to hear fighters talk about what an honor it is to get a gig like this.”

“The gratification one feels can subconsciously seep in to how one fights, in my mind,” he noted. “Me and Pacquiao faced off, and treated the clash too much for too many rounds like a sparring match amongst friends.”

On who is better between Pacquiao and arch-enemy Floyd Mayweather Jr., Bradley said, “Pacquiao is number one, pound-for-pound, in the game. I don’t know. We have to see. Those two would have to square off to determine who is best.”

Bradley quickly added though that he wants to screw up that plan.