Manila: Benigno Aquino III was proclaimed the next president of the Philippines amid joyous celebrations on Wednesday, but he struck a sombre tone as he warned that the impoverished nation was in crisis.
Amid wild cheers and applause from a gallery packed with supporters wearing his family's trademark yellow, parliament proclaimed Aquino the next president with over 15.2 million votes, or nearly 42 per cent, of the total.
"I am a little anxious, a little eager to solve the problems that are besetting our countrymen," Aquino told reporters in his first public remarks shortly after the proclamation. "I can't say [I feel] totally joy at this time."
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Aquino said that a fast-growing budget deficit was one of the most pressing issues.
"Immediately, I have a crisis to deal with," Aquino said of the deficit, which he forecast would hit 400 billion pesos (Dh31.3 billion) this year.
"We have many problems that we have inherited, contrary to the propaganda of our predecessors," he said.
In a Congressional vote count on Wednesday, Aquino won more than 15 million votes — about 5.7 million ahead of his closest opponent, ousted leader Joseph Estrada, who pledged to support him.
"I sincerely offer my congratulations to my good friend and worthy opponent," Estrada said in a speech read by his son before the parliament minutes before Aquino was proclaimed.
Fellow opposition leader and mayor of Makati City, Manila's financial district, Jejomar Binay, won the election for vice-president.
"We have done this... for the Filipino people," Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile told a jubilant crowd before he and House of Representatives Speaker Prospero Nograles banged the gavel to conclude several days of vote canvassing.
A 50-year-old bachelor and economics graduate, Aquino will officially become this Southeast Asian nation's 15th president on June 30. He will replace Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who ran for and won a House seat after a turbulent nine-year rule.
Rock music
Aquino said he wanted a street party with dancing and rock music instead of a grand inauguration at Manila's Quirino grandstand after his proclamation as president.
"That's tradition [to hold the inauguration at the Quirino grandstand] but we also want to emphasise the idea that we are going to change a lot of things. We are inclined [to hold it at] Quezon Memorial [Circle] but we are told there are very little facilities, no stage for instance [for the event]," Aquino said.
"So it will be a street party in Metro Manila. We're still working it out. The street party will have a ballroom as a theme, with rock and new music to suit my time," he said, adding that as many supporters as possible should attend the celebration.
The Aquino legacy
Aquino crushed his rivals largely on his promise of clean government, following nine years of rule under Arroyo that has been tarnished by allegations of massive corruption and vote rigging.
He also drew on the enormous public support for his late parents, who remain revered for their efforts in ending the 20-year dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.
His father, Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, was shot dead in 1983 at Manila airport as he returned from US exile to lead the democracy movement against Marcos.
His mother, Corazon Aquino, took over from her slain husband and led the "People Power" revolution that eventually toppled Marcos in 1986.
She then served as president for six years, a reign that is looked back upon by many Filipinos as one of the least corrupt in modern Philippine history.
Her death from cancer last August triggered a massive outpouring of support for the family that turned the son from a low-key senator to presidential front-runner.
With inputs from agencies
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