Pacquiao faces criminal case

Walden Bello threatened the Filipino Boxing Hero and Senatorial candidate Manny Pacquiao to file a criminal case he will fight against Timothy Bradley Jr. on April 9. According to Bello and his legal team, the fight violates the RA 9006, also known as the “Fair Election Act”. This republic act mandates uniform airtime limit for candidates. Pacqiao’s media exposure before and during the fight is clearly not in accordance to the RA 9006

Further definitions are published in the COMELEC Resolution 9615 which was issued in 2013 and defines the pre-election “political advertisement”. This includes the media appearance in shows that are not covered in the “Comelec Hour”. Bello’s also plans to file a disqualification case if Pacquiao pursue with the fight.

COMELEC approved the Fight

In an earlier decision COMELEC made, they stated not to stop the fight. According to Bello, this is the reason, why he will not file a motion to reconsider as they are running out of time and it would be a waste. He already lost the trust with the poll body as they abrogated their responsibility already. He believes that COMELEC would not reverse themselves anyway.

Bello awaits Pacquiao’s decision

The next legal steps are prepared and Bello’s camp is just waiting for the decision of the boxing-hero to continue.