Pacquiao denies gatecrashing his way into Malacañang to meet Duterte

Presidential aspirant Senator Manny Pacquiao on Sunday denied that he gatecrashed his way into Malacañang to meet with President Rodrigo Duterte.

Pacquaio explained that 1 Pacman party-list Rep. Eric Pineda had asked him to meet with Duterte.

"Hindi po ako traditional politician pero marunong akong makiramdam. Pumayag po ako na pumunta sa Malacañang hindi upang humingi ng suporta kundi upang ipakita ang respeto sa ating Pangulo. Nagpunta ako doon as a gesture of respect to the President," Pacquaio said in a statement.

(I'm not a traditional politician but I can gauge the atmosphere of a situation. I agreed to go to Malacañang, not to ask for support, but to pay my respects to our President. I went there as a gesture of respect to the President.)

Pacquiao said he was surprised when Duterte asked him what their meeting was about because he assumed he was invited there.

"Nagulat ako dahil hindi rin niya alam na may meeting kami. Pareho kaming nagulat," the senator said.

(I was surprised that he didn't know we were meeting. We were both surprised.)

Pacquiao, however, stressed that it would have been impossible for him to meet Duterte if he did not have an official appointment.

"It is impossible na sumulpot lang ako sa Malacañang (It is impossible for me to just show up at Malacañang). To get inside Malacañang you would need an approved appointment," he said.

Further, Pacquiao said he also took the opportunity to apologize to Duterte if he got offended for raising the issue about the worsening corruption in the country.

He also told Duterte that his position was unchanged when it came to his crusade against corruption and raised the need to have another Mindanaoan president. — DVM, GMA News