Pacquiao ecstatic after viewing White House

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After having a sumptuous Valentine’s Day dinner, boxing icon and Sarangani Lone District Rep. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao and his wife Jinkee were escorted to the roof-top of the Hay-Adams Hotel for a view of one of the most breathtaking sceneries in the world’s most powerful city.

As Pacquiao emerged from the lift that brought them to the top of the 145-room hotel that offers a panoramic view of the White House, the boxing star could not help but marvel at the sight of the United States (US) President’s official home – just a walking distance from the boutique hotel where they’re billeted.

“We were taken there and had a great view of the White House,” exclaimed Pacquiao, as he was walking to his suite, looking forward to a power-packed Tuesday that will see him meeting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, and a reported lunch with US President Barack Obama and the US First Lady Michelle Obama.

Pacquiao is thrilled and excited over the prospects of meeting President Obama, even telling a couple of Manila-based scribes early in the press tour that he will even try to extend an invitation to the US President to watch his May 7 fight against Shane Mosley in Las Vegas.

Should the Obama meeting push through, it will be because of Pacquiao’s extraordinary feats in the field of sports and not because of something else, according to one of the boxing icon’s advisers.

US Vice President Joe Biden will also be present at the private luncheon to be given in honor Pacquiao at the White House at noon on February 15 (Eastern Standard Time).

But prior to this, Reid will give his remarks on the Senate floor honoring Pacquiao's visit to the US Capitol at 10:30 a.m. (EST).

Reid is also expected host a press conference with Pacquiao to discuss their meeting.

Pacquiao is a first-timer in the Nation’s capital and he arrived here in style on Monday night, tagging along a horde of American journalists and a handful of Filipino reporters on a special carriage on board the Acela Express train from New York.

The US contingent was made up of staffers from the New York Times, New York Daily News, CBS (television), Wall Street Journal, Playboy, and a team that is producing a documentary on the boxer.

source: manila bulletin