Pacquiao back in Twitterverse

Sarangani representative and boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao is back on Twitter with a verified account that he originally claimed wasn't his. The "new" account, @MannyPacquiao, has actually been in existence since February 18, but Pacquio told GMA News that he had no idea who created it. "Hindi ko alam (I don't know)," Pacquiao said when asked about the @MannyPacquiao account in an interview last February 23. In the same interview, Pacquiao told GMA News that his actual Twitter account is @CongMP. However, following a row with fellow Twitter users last March 21, Pacquiao decided to delete the @CongMP account. Back from hiatus on Twitter After just a few weeks' hiatus from the Twitterverse, Pacquiao announced on April 2 that he was returning to the social network. Team Pacquiao chief of staff Jayke Joson confirmed with GMA News that Pacquiao is indeed now in charge of the verified @MannyPacquiao account. Previously, Pacquiao had delegated the management of his @CongMP account to his own personal staff. Since its acquisition, the @MannyPacquiao account has been purged of its old content. As of 4:00pm on April 2, the account has just three posts but still sports over 22,000 followers. It is not yet clear, as of posting time, how Pacquiao acquired the account, nor who its original owners are. Why he threw in the towel On the evening of March 21, as members of the House of Representatives were deliberating on the impeachment proceedings of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, Pacquiao was in Baguio training for his May 7 bout against Shane Moseley. Despite his absence from the session, he tweeted via @CongMP that he was following Gurierrez' impeachment proceedings on television. When criticized about his absence, Pacquiao —apparently in jest— told his critics: "e di mag reklamo ka sa lolo mong panot hahahaha" (Go tell it to your balding grandpa!) "Ganyan lang dapat dito sa twitter relax lang," he said in a follow-up tweet. But not all observers agreed with how Pacquiao handled the conversation. "You may be trying to folksy and humorous, @CongMP, but the matter at hand is too serious to be flippant about," opined @jesterinexile. Tirades from netizens hitting him on his tweets finally pushed Pacquiao to throw in his towel: "Sorry everyone but hanggang dito nalang delete ko na account ko thank you very much to all your support." (sic) — JVP, GMA News