Pacquiao took the WBO welterweight crown from Cotto in Las Vegas on Saturday night when the referee stopped the fight in the 12th round.
The victory, which followed Pacquiao's stunning second-round knockout of Ricky Hatton in May, gave a morale boost to the country. The Philippines has been wracked by terrorism, Muslim and communist rebellions and recent back-to-back storms that caused the worst flooding in and around the capital in more than four decades.
"It was like a small respite for my townmates and it created a spirit of bonding and a little rest after the series of storms," said Mayor Joric Gacula of lakeside Taytay township, which was inundated in the September floods.
He said he paid 72,000 pesos (about $1,500) in pay-per-view from his own pocket to show the fight to more than 2,500 residents, mostly flood victims, who packed the town gymnasium.
"The people were very excited. It was like they were not affected by the storm," he said.
The crowd watched the bout as they munched on biscuits - food aid from the World Food Program - and peanuts, which they washed down with bottled water donated by a mall owner.
In Zamboanga city, which is at the front line of an anti-terror campaign in the volatile southern Mindanao region, people packed roadside canteens chanting "Manny, Manny!" as Pacquiao pummeled Cotto. Many were motorcycle taxi drivers and vendors who emptied the streets during the fight.
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