Manny Pacquiao is apologizing for his controversial comments on same-sex couples, but stands firm on his stance against legalizing gay marriage.
Pacquiao, who’s running for Philippine Senate, made the comments on a Filipino television station and was criticized for them after they were posted by the TV5 network.
“It's just common sense," he said of his opposition to gay couples. "Have you seen any animal having male-to-male or female-to-female relations?"
The AP reports he added, "if you have male-to-male or female-to-female (relationships), then people are worse than animals."
Pacquiao, who lost a high profile fight to Floyd Mayweather in May 2015, is currently a member of the House of Representatives.
“I'm sorry for hurting people by comparing homosexuals to animals,” he has since written on Instagram along with a video. “Please forgive me for those I've hurt. I still stand on my belief that I'm against same sex marriage because of what the Bible says, but I'm not condemning LGBT.”