Pacquiao meets President Obama at the White House

(Updated 2:09 p.m.) Manny Pacquiao stopped traffic outside the White House on Tuesday, during a tour to the nation's capital that included meetings with President Barack Obama and Sen. Harry Reid, according to a report on dzBB radio. The 32-year-old Pacquiao, who was in Washington to promote his May 7 fight with Shane Mosley, met with Obama at the White House early Wednesday morning (Manila time). He was accompanied by his wife, Jinkee. "I'm happy," the report quoted Pacquiao as saying after the meeting, which the media and even organizers and members of Team Pacquiao were not allowed to cover. The report said Obama shook Pacquiao’s hands and told him that he was a fan of boxing and of him. Obama also posed for photos with Pacquiao during the meeting and gave the couple several souvenirs, including a box of M&M chocolates in a white box with the presidential seal. Jinkee was quoted as saying that she planned to give the chocolates to their children upon their return to the Philippines on Feb. 18. The radio report said Pacquiao caused a minor accident outside the White House as starstruck motorists tried to take videos and photos of the boxing icon. In Manila, President Benigno Aquino III lauded the meeting, describing it as “a recognition of the Filipino talent." “It highlights the fact that we have an outstanding Filipino athlete worthy of being talked to by arguably one of the most powerful men in the world," Aquino said in an interview after presiding over a command conference with defense and military officials at Camp Aquinaldo in Quezon City. “So this is a recognition that here in the Philippines we also have talented and worthwhile individuals of laud. So I would like to say thank you," Aquino added. Pacquiao, a world champion at eight different weight classes, won a congressional seat in the May 10, 2010 elections. — with Amita O. Legaspi/LBG/KBK, GMA News