Nonoy Aquino running for 2010 Presidency

“Tinatanggap ko ang hiling ng sambayanan. Tinatanggap ko rin po ang bilin at habilin, tagubilin ng aking mga magulang. Tinatanggap ko ang responsibilidad na ituloy ang laban para sa bayan. Tinatanggap ko ang hamong mamuno sa labang ito. Bayang Pilipinas, tatakbo ako sa pagkapangulo sa darating na halalan,” said Noynoy, who made the announcement on the 40th day after the death of his mother, former President Corazon C. Aquino.

He made the announcement that he will run for president in 2010 as standard bearer of the Liberal Party (LP) at the historic Club Filipino in Greenhills in San Juan City, early on Wednesday, where his famous mother took her oath as president on Feb. 25, 1986 during the final day of the EDSA People Power Revolution.


Aquino said he wants to be a president “that will be missed when I step down.” Noynoy is the only son of Mrs. Aquino and opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. Millions of people lined the streets of Manila during the funerals of both his parents, Mrs. Aquino last month and Ninoy in 1983, when he was gunned down upon return from US exile.

Promptly, the camp of former President Joseph Estrada welcomed Noynoy’s announcement, even as the deposed leader had floated the idea of seeking the presidency again if the opposition fails to unite behind a single candidate in 2010.

“We welcome Sen. Noynoy’s decision and wish him the best in his bid for the presidency. We urge him to work and campaign doubly hard, now that he has declared his intent to run,” said Margaux Salcedo, Estrada’s spokesperson, in a text message to GMANews.TV.

Salcedo said that while Noynoy carries the legacy and memory of his parents, “he must also prove that beyond this, he is his own man worth voting for president.”

Even Malacañang welcomed Noynoy’s declaration.

In an interview on dzBB radio, presidential political adviser Gabriel Claudio congratulated Noynoy, now that he has thrown his hat in the 2010 presidential ring.

“Si Sen. Noynoy Aquino ay ating kaibigan at lubusang binabati at kinocongratulate ang kaniyang pagpapahayag (Sen. Noynoy Aquino is our friend and we greet and congratulate him after he has made the announcement),” Claudio said.

Claudio added that he does not doubt that Noynoy has good intentions in seeking the presidency next year.

Asked whether Noynoy’s decision would affect the administration coalition Lakas-Kampi (Kabalikat ng Mamamayang Pilipino)-CMD, Claudio said that he does not want to meddle into the affairs of the Liberal Party.

“Sa administrasyon, imbis na panghimasukan ang affairs ng ibang partido, ay pinatatag na lang ang…proseso ng (pagpili) sa kandidato mula nasyonal hanggang local,” Claudio said.

(The administration would rather strengthen its process in picking national and local candidates than meddle into the affairs of another party.)

Senator Loren Legarda, a possible presidential bet of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), said the development would affect the LP alone and not her party.

“Ang kaniyang (Noynoy) pag-anunsyo ay partido Liberal at iba naman po yung NPC (Noynoy’s announcement is for the Liberal Party. The NPC is different),” Legarda said in a separate interview on dzBB radio.

Incidentally, the NPC is a party formed by Noynoy’s uncle, business tycoon Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, when he sought the presidency in 1992.