Aquino chooses Roxas as Philippine presidential candidate
MANILA — Philippine President Benigno Aquino III has chosen Interior Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas II as the administration candidate to succeed him in elections next year.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino gestures while delivering his last State of the Nation Address (SONA) during the joint session of the 16th Congress at the House of Representatives in Quezon city, metro Manila, on July 27, 2015. Photo: Reuters
MANILA — Philippine President Benigno Aquino III has chosen Interior Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas II as the administration candidate to succeed him in elections next year.
Mr Aquino made the announcement today (July 31) in the same meeting hall where Mr Roxas declared six years ago that he was shelving his own presidential ambition to give way to the son of the late democracy icon Corazon Aquino.
The 58-year-old former legislator says he was honoured to be endorsed by Mr Aquino as the standard bearer of the dominant Liberal Party.
The grandson and namesake of the Philippines' first post-World War II president promises to continue on the "straight path", Mr Aquino's program to fight poverty and corruption in this South-east Asian nation of 100 million.
Mr Roxas lost as Mr Aquino's running mate in the 2010 vice presidential race. AP
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