Pacquiao: Verified Twitter account is fake

Philippine boxing legend Manny Pacquiao has come forward to explain that the verified Twitter account bearing his name is not his, and he has no idea who created it. GMA News sent a direct message to Twitter customer support for clarification, but has not received a reply as of posting time. The news came as a surprise to netizens, who believed the account to genuinely belong to the world boxing champ because of its Verified status. In order for a Twitter account to be verified, its owner would need to coordinate directly with Twitter administrators as the verification program is no longer available to the public. "After a long period of manual testing, we've closed public applications. We have removed our public-facing verification request form. In the meantime, we're still verifying some trusted sources, such as our advertisers and partners. If you're one of our partners or advertisers, please follow up with your account manager for details," Twitter explains on its website.

The spurious Twitter account bearing Manny Pacquiao's identity. Note the blue verification badge beside the name, which is system-generated by Twitter itself. GMA News

According to WhenDidYouJoinTwitter.com, the verified Twitter account @mannypacquiao was created on February 18 — quietly and without fanfare — and was verified sometime thereafter. Since it was created, the account has gathered over 10,000 followers as of 9:00 p.m. on February 23. GMA News had sent a direct message to ascertain who was behind the account, but received no reply.

Cong. Manny Pacquiao's actual Twitter account, as told to GMA News. GMA News

Meanwhile, Pacquiao himself told GMA News that his official Twitter account is @CongMP, which was created only on Wednesday, February 23, with just under 3,000 followers as of 9:00 p.m. — JV, GMA News