SARANGANI, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – Facing mounting criticism and loss of product endorsement revenue from companies like Nike, Filipino boxing champion today announced that he was suspending his campaign to become senator.
Earlier this week, Pacquiao received tremendous flak because of his comments comparing gay men and lesbians to (worse than) animals. He was responding to a question about same-sex marriage.
Pacquiao made the announcement during a telephone interviewwith broadcaster Karen Davila who pressed him on his constant bible-quoting to respond to issues on same-sex marriage.
The congressman from Sarangani, a devout Catholic, said that effectively immediately, he will quit the senatorial race and focus on his upcoming re-match with Timothy Bradley for the welterweight boxing title scheduled April 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“Win or lose,” Pacquiao said, “I will pursue the priesthood and hopefully become the pastor of my local church in Sarangani. “I believe it is the Lord’s calling for me to pursue this religious path,” he added.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (The Adobo Chornicles, San Francisco Bureau) – When Manny Pacquiao meets Timothy Bradley, Jr. for the third time on April 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, he will be met by a picket line by the homophobic hate group Westboro Baptist Church (WBC).
WBC is known for its rhetoric against homosexuals and has staged pickets at many high-profile events, including funerals, espousing its belief that “God hates fags.”
So, why are the WBC members picketing Pacquiao when he is on their side?
Just recently Pacquiao compared homosexuals to animals, claiming that human beings are worse than animals for engaging in same-sex behavior.
It appears that WBC is picketing for a different reason. The church believes that the sport of boxing is “barbaric” and “animalistic” and goes against the teachings of God.
So, there. Pacquiao will finally meet his match. Not Bradley. WBC.
MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – The Philippines’ Congress is at it again. Members want to exempt Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach from paying taxes on her income as Miss Universe. But Wurtzbach has declined, saying she will continue to pay her taxes just like she always did in the past.
This is not the first time that such a proposal has been filed in Congress. There have been several attempts to put forward a similar bill exempting Filipino champion boxer Manny Pacquiao from paying taxes. (Incidentally, Pacquiao is facing a P3.2 billion tax evasion case before the Court of Tax Appeals. The case was filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue after assessing that Pacquiao had incurred “deficiency income and value-added tax” from 2008 to 2009, worth P2.2 billion. Penalties and surcharges caused the deficiency to balloon to P3.2 billion.)
Congress wanted to grant the tax exemptions, arguing that Wurtzbach and Pacquiao are the “pride of the Philippines, putting the country on the world map, and considering them as “heroes.”
Well, what about the true heroes of the Philippines — the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs)? They are the backbone of the Philippine economy, infusing more than $26 Billion in remittances to the country annually?
Currently, the wages or income of OFWs arising out of their overseas employment are exempt from income tax. Since OFWs usually already pay income taxes in the country they are working in, the Philippines exempts those taxable income of Filipinos through the virtue of tax reciprocity. With the tax reciprocity rule, Filipinos working abroad are taxed for incomes received there and are exempt from paying income taxes in the Philippines, in the same way that foreigners working in the Philippines are taxed here for incomes sourced within the Philippines and are also not required to pay income taxes anymore to their home country.
But now, some smart members of Congress want to lift that exemption, and the Aquino administration — especially Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares — favor the proposal.
“Sure, it would be a case of double taxation,” Henares said, “but think about the huge tax revenue that the Philippine government will earn from taxing OFW income abroad.”
The Adobo Chronicles 
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