US RELIGIOUS LEADERS SHOW THEIR SUPPORT TO PACQUIAO
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 19 Feb 2016
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- The country's national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, once said: "And hindi magmahal sa sariling wika ay higit pa sa hayop at malansang isda."
The memory of that statement, borne out of Dr. Rizal's love of country and, thus, earned for him the respect and adulation of people around the world, has, once again, surfaced in the wake of Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao's latest pronouncement opposing same -sex marriage.
"Si Dr. Rizal nagsabi ng ganoon dahil sa pagmamahal niya sa bayan at sa ating sariling wika ay hinangaan at iginalang sa buong mundo. Si Manny na nagpahayag lamang ng kanyang pagtutol sa pagpapangasawahan ng dalawang taong pareho ang kasarian base sa mga aral ng Diyos ay kinukundena dito mismo sa ating sariling bayan," evangelist Art Madlaing lamented Wednesday night.
"Where is our people's sense of values? Why, they're even threatening to boycott Manny's candidacy? Kung sabagay maliit na grupo lamang sila, pero ganoon na ba tayong mga Pilipino ngayon na puwedeng manakot sa mga taong di naniniwala sa kanila?" Madlaing , publisher-columnist of several Filipino newspapers in California, bewailed.
Madlaing headed a group of five American evangelists who paid Pacquiao a courtesy call Wednesday night. The group, belonging to We Care Ministry USA Bible Study includes Larry West, Cole Robertson, Steven Prine and Erben Gonzales extended their all-out moral and spiritual support to the eight-division champion's stand on the issue of same-sex union. The 18-year-old Robertson is a cast in the popular reality TV Show "DUCK DYNASTY".
The group also urged Pacquiao to continue preaching God's words and teachings and prayed for the continued success of this city's pride in his calling as a fighter and all his undertakings as a Christian.
West, 71 from Louisiana State who himself is a preacher for several decades expressed surprised how the issue has blown into an almost uncontrollable proportion considering that the Philippines is known throughout the world as a predominantly Christian country.
Robertson, for his part, promised to feature the entire interview in one of the episodes of his television shows.
Madlaing, who represents the San Franciscan Golden Gate Church of Christ and the Fil-Am media as associate publisher of Philippines Digest monthly magazine and the weekly Philippine Today, likewise, vowed the help of his publications magnify Pacquiao's political and religious advocacies.
"We Filipinos in America might have been living there for a long time, but, certainly, we still possess the traits and characters of a true-blooded Filipino, lalo na ang pagmamahal natin at paggalang sa paginoon na siyang lumikha sa ating lahat," he pointed out.
Prine of California belittled the threat made by LGBT calling Filipino electorates not to vote the incumbent Sarangani Cogressman, who is running for Senator in the coming May elections, saying "with God on the side of Pacquiao, he can't go wrong. God is very good, especially to those who love him. This issue should not worry him at all."
L-R: Larry West, Cole Robertson, Manny Pacquiao, Steven Prine, Art Madlaing, and Erben Gonzales. Photo by Wendell Rupert Alinea.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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