No health protocols violated during birthday bash, Pacquiao says

Image courtesy of Instagram/@jinkeepacquiao

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Manny Pacquiao on Monday insisted that there were no violations of health protocols in the celebration of his 42nd birthday in General Santos City, but pictures on social media showed otherwise.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel, Pacquiao said that less than 50 people attended the gathering — all of whom were required to take swab tests before being allowed inside the venue.

“Wala pa pong 50 people nandun sa loob ng bulwagan at saka may mga swab naman sila lahat. Ni-require ng swab so di kami nagpabaya,” Pacquiao said.

(There were less than 50 people inside the venue and they all took swab tests. We required them to get tested so we were not careless.)

“Alam namin yang mga — na magkakaroon ng issue na ganyan at mayroon silang mga swab bago namin pinapapasok,” the senator added.

(We knew that there would be issues so we required them to get tested before they were allowed to enter.)

In defending the number of guests invited to the party, Pacquiao also said that the venue can accommodate 300 people as he defended the number of guests invited during the party.

“Malaki ‘tong bulwagan. Actually iyong bulwagan, magkasya kahit na mga 300 pero less than 50 ay okay na ‘yun sa bulwagan na kasya yung 300,” the senator said.

(The venue is huge. It can occupy 300 people so less than 50 guests is okay.)

Asked if he believes that no health protocols were violated during the party, Pacquiao said: “Wala naman. Maingat tayong nag-celebrate ng birthday party natin, although simple lang.”

(None. We were very careful during the birthday party, although it was simple.)

But several netizens took note of the lack of observance of health protocols during Pacquiao’s birthday.

Contrary to claims of Pacquiao, photos shared by Pacquiao’s wife, Jinkee, on Instagram showed that some of the guests did not observe social distancing. In some photos, guests were also not wearing face masks.

Images courtesy of Instagram/@jinkeepacquiao.

Jinkee also claimed in the post’s caption that guests and family members were wearing face masks during the event.

This was not the first time that Pacquiao drew flak over supposed violations in the observance of health protocols.

Recently, the senator came under fire after he was caught speaking to a crowd in Batangas, which also supposedly failed to observe social distancing.

Aside from Pacquiao, other government officials also drew flak for supposedly violating health protocols.

Government has time and again warned against public gathering to avoid the spread of the coronavirus, especially during Christmas season.