Benigno Aquino III - 2010 Presidential Campaign

2010 Presidential Campaign

Main article: Philippine presidential election, 2010 See also: Benigno Aquino III presidential campaign, 2010

On November 26, 2008, the Liberal Party elected Mar Roxas, president of the Liberal Party, as the standard-bearer of the Liberal Party for President of the Philippines in the then-upcoming 2010 presidential elections.

Following the death and funeral of Aquino's mother, former President Corazon Aquino, many people began calling on Aquino to run for President of the Philippines. This groundswell of support became known as the "Noynoy Phenomenon".

On August 27, 2009, Edgardo "Eddie" Roces, son of the late Chino Roces, former publisher and owner of The Manila Times, and a group of lawyers and activists formed the Noynoy Aquino for President Movement (NAPM), a nationwide campaign to collect a million signatures in order to persuade Aquino to run for President, reminiscent of Roces' father, who on October 15, 1985, launched the Cory Aquino for President Movement (CAPM), collecting more than one million signatures nationwide, asking Aquino's mother to run against Ferdinand Marcos in the 1986 presidential snap elections.

In September 2009, the Liberal Party held numerous press conferences in relation to the 2010 elections at the Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan, the site of the presidential inauguration of Aquino's mother in February 1986.

On September 1, 2009, at the Club Filipino, in a press conference, Senator Mar Roxas, president of the Liberal Party, announced his withdrawal from the 2010 presidential race and expressed his support for Aquino, as the party standard-bearer instead. Aquino later stood side by side with Roxas, but did not make a public statement at the press conference. The next day, Aquino announced that he would be going on a "spiritual retreat" over the weekend to finalize his decision for the elections,visiting the Carmelite sisters in Zamboanga City. reminiscent of his mother's own soul-searching in 1985 before deciding to run for the elections the following year. He came back on September 9 to formally announce his candidacy. Almost two weeks later, Roxas, pledged to run alongside Aquino, as the Liberal Party standard-bearer for vice-president, launching the Aquino-Roxas tandem. On November 28, 2009, Aquino and Roxas filed their certificate of candidacy for President and Vice President respectively.

During the 90-day election campaign period from February 9 – May 8, 2010, fake psychiatric reports on Aquino's mental health began circulating. According to Aquino, his camp had received information that the first fake psychiatric report on his mental state that was circulated on the Internet came from the wife of Guido Delgado, a supporter of the Nacionalista Party. Aquino noted that the supporter's move was made with "malicious intent". An unidentified supporter of Senator Manny Villar, president of the Nacionalista Party and the standard bearer of the Nacionalista Party for President of the Philippines, sent a second fake psychiatric report to Villar’s volunteer center located at Star Mall in Mandaluyong City. The psychiatric report was presented in a restaurant in Quezon City, during a press conference held by Guido Delgado, a supporter of the Nacionalista Party and former president of the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR). The psychiatric report was supposedly signed by Father Jaime C. Bulatao, S.J., PhD, a Jesuit priest, a professor of Psychology and a clinical psychologist at the Ateneo de Manila University, taken when Aquino was finishing his Bachelor's degree in Economics at the Ateneo de Manila University in 1979, showed that Aquino suffered from depression and melancholia, however, Father Bulatao had denied writing or signing the psychiatric report. A fake third psychiatric report on Aquino’s mental state was circulated on the Internet. The psychiatric report was supposedly signed by Father Carmelo A. Caluag II, S.J., a Jesuit priest at the Ateneo de Manila University. The psychiatric report showed that Aquino suffered from major depressive disorder, however, Father Caluag had denied having made any psychiatric evaluation of Aquino. The psychiatric report was disowned by the Ateneo de Manila University Psychology Department. Aquino described the release of another fake psychiatric report as an "act of desperation" of his political opponents to besmirch his reputation. Aquino dismissed his "psychiatric evaluation", saying its release only showed how desperate his rivals were.

During the campaign, Senator Francis Escudero began endorsing Aquino as President and PDP-Laban standard-bearer Jejomar Binay, for Vice President, launching the Aquino-Binay campaign. However, this was done without the consent of the two candidates; Binay was former President Joseph Estrada's running mate for vice-president.

During the 2010 presidential election, held on May 10, 2010, in unofficial tallies, conducted by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), Aquino was the leading candidate in tallied votes for President, and in the official Congressional canvass, Aquino was the leading candidate in canvassed votes for President. Aquino was unofficially being referred to as "President-apparent" by the media.

On June 9, 2010, at the Batasang Pambansa Complex, in Quezon City, the Congress of the Philippines proclaimed Aquino as the President-elect of the Philippines, following the 2010 election with 15,208,678 votes, while Jejomar Binay, the former mayor of Makati City, was proclaimed as the Vice President-elect of the Philippines with 14,645,574 votes, defeating runner-up for the vice presidency Mar Roxas, the standard-bearer of the Liberal Party for Vice President.