By Jim Gomez
MANILA, Philippines (AP) _ Traffic ground to a halt and feuding political factions briefly put aside their differences Sunday as Filipinos rejoiced over boxing hero Manny Pacquiao's victory over Mexican rival Erik Morales.
Pacquiao stopped Morales with a flurry of punches in the 10th of their 12-round rematch in Las Vegas to avenge a defeat to the Mexican fighter 10 months ago, drawing cheers from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, mountain-based guerrillas and the rich and poor alike.
``Thank you, Manny, thank you,'' Arroyo told Pacquiao in a telephone call minutes after he was proclaimed the winner. ``Thank you for the honour you gave to our country.''
The win was a rare piece of good news for Arroyo, who has struggled for months amid a crisis over vote-rigging and corruption allegations. Arroyo and her husband have been high-profile supporters of Pacquiao and other athletes.
Huge crowds watched the much-awaited showdown in theatres, public squares, gymnasiums _ halting traffic in Manila's downtown Quiapo district where hundreds watched the match on a drug store's large advertising screen. Others were glued on their TV and radio sets nationwide.
The crowd repeatedly yelled his name when he scored, and winced when he took blows.
``I was really, really ecstatic,'' said Rey Tubongbanwa, an impoverished bicycle taxi driver in Quiapo.
``But I didn't hear the last part because the sound system was drowned by the yells of the crowd when Morales came down,'' he said.
At an upscale mall in Manila's financial district of Makati, some of Arroyo's political opponents and supporters joined few hundred spectators to watch the match on a theatre screen. The rival politicians erupted in joy, some shaking hands, as he triumphed.
Eid Kabalu, spokesman of a Muslim separatist group in the country's restive south, said he and many of his comrades rejoiced over Pacquiao's win.
``There is no doubt we can be united over some things. We don't have to quarrel all the time,'' he said via telephone.
After the match, Pacquiao talked with his mother in his southern Philippine hometown through a telephone linkup broadcast by a local television network.
``Mom, thanks for the prayers. Please thank everybody there for me,'' Pacquiao said.
``I know you will win my son, I felt it in my heart,'' his mom Dionisia replied.
In another TV interview, Pacquiao dedicated his victory to his homeland and appealed for national unity.
