Follow me on Twitter - Manny Pacquiao
In an interview with GMA-7’s “24 Oras,” the congressman-boxer said he only joined Twitter on Feb. 23, and that he has nothing to do with the “@mannypacquiao” account.
“Ay hindi, hindi ko alam [‘yan]. Ang Twitter account ko is Emmanuel D. Pacquiao, ‘ twitter.com/CongMP’,” said Manny.
Manny, the latest celebrity to ride the Twitter bandwagon in order to reach out to more people, assured that his posts will come solely and directly from him (via his Blackberry phone, he said). He has more than 9,000 followers as of this writing.
So far he has two posts, the first of which reads:
“hello guys its me Cong. Manny this is my new and official twitter account hello everybody thank you for all your support pls. watch my fight.”
The fake “@mannypacquiao” account made a huge buzz when a post appeared on its page, saying, “Kamusta kayo ‘hi everybody’” last Sunday. At least 10,000 people seemed to have been tricked by the sham and followed the said account.
Manny, who has just returned to the country after his U.S. media tour with Sugar Shane Mosley for their May 7 fight, is not oblivious of imposters within and outside Twitter.
“May nagte-text na nanalo daw sila ng ganitong halaga, o nanalo ng mga kotse. Tapos sponsored by Manny Pacquiao or parang foundation from Manny Pacquiao. Ay, hindi po totoo ‘yon,” he maintained.
He appealed to these imposters to “wake up” and warned them of karma.
“Ang karma hindi natin malalaman sa buhay natin na kinakarma na tayo, kundi unti-unti tayong parang kandila na nauubos. Sana magising kayo,” he said.
Interestingly, Manny is following five accounts, namely that of Hollywood actors Jeremy Piven and Mark Wahlberg, Colombian superstar Shakira, U.S. president Barack Obama and National Basketball Association (NBA) team Boston Celtics.
From being a simple avenue of expressing oneself in 140 characters or less, Twitter rose to become a most powerful tool, as it allows information to be easily communicated and accessed by almost anyone who surfs the web. News ranging from natural calamities to not-so-natural disasters, such as terror attacks and accidents, have been broken on Twitter.
Many celebrities and other powerful figures also use Twitter to interact with their supporters and even critics. Some of these key figures include president Barack Obama, president of the Philippines Noynoy Aquino, and even the Vatican.
A number of controversies that shook local showbiz last year erupted on Twitter, such as Kris Aquino’s confession in June that she had a “big misunderstanding” with estranged husband James Yap (they eventually split in the same month), Charice’s official announcement that she is, for real, part of the hit musical series “Glee” (following her earlier denial of the casting rumors), and Cristine Reyes’ virtual assault of a “drama princess,” which turned out to be Sarah Geronimo.