Congress proclaims Aquino next Philippine president

Jun 9, 2010, 11:18 GMT

Manila - The Philippine Congress on Wednesday officially proclaimed Senator Benigno Aquino III as the country's 15th president amid high hopes of better governance under him.

Aquino, son of democracy icon and former president Corazon Aquino, said that while he was happy to win the presidential race, he was anxious about the gargantuan tasks awaiting him after he is sworn in June 30.

Thousands of people who packed the gallery of the House of Representatives' session hall chanted his nickname, 'Noynoy, Noynoy,' as Aquino was ushered in to be proclaimed the winner.

Congress also proclaimed Jejomar Binay, outgoing mayor of Makati City in Manila, as the new vice president.

'I'm a little anxious because of the many problems besetting our country,' Aquino told reporters after his proclamation. 'I am eager to solve these problems as soon as possible.'

The 50-year-old said he and his camp were already in the process of choosing the members of his cabinet.

He said his administration's priority during his first days in office was to determine the true political and economic state of the country.

'The first priority when we convene the cabinet has to really be an inventory of the problem that we are going to be confronting,' he said. 'A wrong identification of the problems leads to wrong solutions.'

He added that initial steps were already being planned to enable him to fulfill his promise to stamp out graft and corruption, which plagued the nine-year administration of outgoing President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Aquino won by nearly 6 million votes in the May 10 election over his closest rival, former president Joseph Estrada, who expressed his desire to help the new government in addressing the problems facing the country.

Binay, who was Estrada's vice presidential running mate, edged out Aquino's running mate, Senator Mar Roxas, by 700,000 votes.

Aquino vowed to tap the expertise of other losing presidential candidates in his effort to improve the lot of the country's impoverished millions.