Filipino boxing star Manny Pacquiao on Wednesday withdrew his P30-million libel suit against the editorial staff of broadsheet Manila Bulletin.
In his affidavit of withdrawal before the General Santos City Prosecutor?s Office in, Pacquiao said he is requesting that his complaint against sports writer Nick Giongco, publisher Hermogenes Pobre, editor-in-chief Cris Icban Jr., and Sports section editor Ding Marcelo be dismissed, noting that pursuing the case would only cause inconvenience to him and his family.
He said he has already forgiven the respondents for calling him a ?compulsive gambler.?
Reports said Pacquio filed the affidavit on his birthday, Monday.
Lawyer Edilberto Jamora, chief prosecutor, said Pacquiao requested the prosecutor?s office to dismiss the case ?as a gesture of goodwill this Christmas season.?
Jamora said Pacquiao had been ?ill-advised? when he filed the case.
?He should be forgiving not combative. What can he gain out of it? Now he can focus on his training,? Jamora said.
The case stemmed from an article, titled ?Trouble in Paradise-Again?,? published on July 25 in Manila Bulletin?s sports section. In the article, Giongco wrote that Pacquiao was “reportedly a compulsive gambler and was known to bet hundreds of thousands in casinos, cockfighting, and billiards.”
