Pacquiao gave consent to air video, says ABS-CBN

MANILA, Philippines – ABS-CBN reiterated that they have Manny Pacquiao’s consent to air his pre-taped video statement, the giant media network said in a statement posted at their news website. Pacquiao claimed that he and ABS-CBN agreed not to air his video statement until he has proven that Solar did not violate any provisions with his contract. He said ABS-CBN failed to keep its promise. “We are surprised by Manny Pacquiao’s statement that ABS-CBN News broke a supposed embargo," said ABS-CBN News in the statement. Pacquiao, in a video statement aired at TV Patrol World last week, rescinded his existing contract with Solar Sports and decided to give ABS-CBN the rights to air his fight against British boxer Ricky Hatton. The Filipino boxing icon, however, decided to stick with Solar after meeting its officials last Friday. Solar has the rights of airing all of Pacquiao’s future fights until 2011. ABS-CBN added that Pacquiao even taped two recorded statements with them. The first was on March 14, which was not aired, where Pacquiao asked to be embargoed and the other on March 17 where he said that he was the one who came to ABS-CBN to air his next fights. Pacquiao later recanted and clarified that he did not yet give ABS-CBN the go-signal to air the footage announcing his controversial decision to rescind his live contract with Solar Entertainment Corp. “Ang usapan kasi namin ng ABS ay huwag muna tayo maggawa ng footage o video. Susuriin ko muna ang kontrata ng Solar kung may breach of contract at saka tayo maglabas ng ganoong videos. And then sabi nila sa akin na itatago muna namin, hindi namin ipapalabas, gawin mo na lang ito, sasabihin namin pag papalabas na, kaya ginawa namin," General Santos’ boxing hero said in a special teleconference last Monday. “Wala namang nakitang breach of contract at wala namang kasalanan, wala namang nilabag ang Solar so dapat hindi maipalabas ang video na iyon na hindi naman karapat-dapat.," he said. ABS-CBN, in the statement said, they decided to respond to Pacquiao’s statements to protect the organization. “We respond because this charge strikes at our core values as a news organization: honest reporting and respect for our sources." “On March 19, in an interview while training, he asked viewers to support him and watch his fight on ABS-CBN. On March 20, Pacquiao again declared in an ABS-CBN interview that ‘my decision [is] still the same. Fight mapapanood sa ABS-CBN,’" ABS-CBN News said. ABS-CBN, however, respected Pacquiao’s decision to stick with Solar. “Regardless, we continue to report on Manny Pacquiao's activities and respect his decision to enter into any arrangement with any company regarding his fights." “Manny Pacquiao approached ABS-CBN to be his media partner in airing his next fights. We thank him for trusting us. He signed a contract with us, but we will not stand in the way if he decides to change his mind. We respect it, wish him good luck and we wait to hear from him." – GMANews.TV