Pacquiao absent from House but ‘votes no’ to impeachment via Twitter

Sarangani Rep. and boxing legend Manny Pacquiao was absent from the House vote Monday night, but he registered his opposition anyway to Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez's impeachment via his Twitter account. Pacquiao was in training in Baguio City for his May fight against Shane Mosley and has put his duties as congressman on the backburner. In a 212-46 vote with four abstentions, the lawmakers impeached Gutierrez for alleged betrayal of public trust due to the low conviction rates during her term and her supposed inaction on five high-profile cases. However, Pacquiao's absence did not prevent him from showing the public where he stands, drawing criticism via Twitter from pro-impeachment netizens. Just before midnight on Monday, as the votes were being counted in the lower house’s session hall to impeach Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, he tweeted, “I vote NO! and I can give my explanation thanks." No explanation followed, but then his ‘vote’ was not counted because he was not at the House of Representatives. Tweets, taunts, tirades Using his Twitter account, Pacquiao responded to online criticism of his absence from Monday’s impeachment proceedings at the House. A piqued Pacquiao responded to Twitter user @RAndRat by taunting: “e di mag reklamo ka sa lolo mong panot hahahaha." Minutes earlier, the Twitter user with the account @RAndRat – who goes by the name “Reason & Rationality" – had tweeted: “to h*ll with @congmp. Why the f**k did you run for congress when you know you’d barely be present?" Other Twitter users pulled no punches with Pacquiao, hitting him for his absence from the House proceedings on the articles of impeachment which ended well into the wee hours of Tuesday morning. “Why are you not at the plenary?" tweeted Noemi Dado under the username @momblogger, after the absentee solon said on Twitter: “I’m watching impeachment trial very interesting topic good night everyone thanks." Twitter user @bethangsioco added, “Hay I've been harping on his long absences for d longest time." Tirades from netizens hitting him on his tweets had Pacquiao throwing in the towel: “Sorry everyone but hanggang dito nalang delete ko na account ko thank you very much to all your support." (sic) Relevant tweets The following is a selection of relevant tweets as curated by Dado via Storify:

Pacquiao's Twitter presence As of posting time, Pacquiao's account remains active – with his latest tweet deleted. Warning the public about fake Twitter accounts using his name, Pacquiao himself had earlier told GMA News that his official Twitter account is @CongMP. – MRT/VVP/HS/TJD, GMA News