Here is a list of 10 of the most interesting personalities:
• BENIGNO AQUINO, 50. The balding, chainsmoking, bachelor son of the late democracy heroine Corazon Aquino is set to win the presidential contest by a landslide, according to opinion polls.
• MANUEL VILLAR, 60. Self-made propertydeveloper millionaire who is one of Aquino's main rivals. But his popularity ratings have plunged in recent weeks amid allegations he used his posts in government to enrich himself.
• GLORIA ARROYO, 63. The president for the past decade is controversially seeking a seat in the House of Representatives in what her critics allege is part of a bid to eventually return to power as prime minister.
• IMELDA MARCOS, 80. The ex-first lady left 3,000 pairs of shoes when she fled Malacañang during a popular revolt that toppled her husband, Ferdinand Marcos. She is standing for a Lower House seat partly to win redemption for her late husband.
• JUAN PONCE ENRILE, 86. The wily survivor wants to return as president of the Senate after a long career that saw him outlast his former bosses-turnedfoes Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Aquino.
• ANDAL AMPATUAN SR., 65. Head of a powerful Muslim clan, he is running against his own daughter for vice governor of Maguindanao province while in jail with his sons awaiting trial for the murders of 57 people in an election-linked massacre last year.
• JEJOMAR BINAY, 67. The diminutive mayor of Makati City made a dramatic late surge in the polls to the front of the vice presidential race after a faction in the Aquino camp shifted support to him. Binay was a close ally of Aquino's mother, the late president Corazon Aquino.
• MANNY PACQUIAO, 31. The seven-time world boxing champion is seeking a Lower House seat three years after being knocked out in a similar attempt.
• JOSEPH ESTRADA, 73. Ousted in a bloodless, military-backed coup in 2001 three years after a landslide presidential election victory, the populist B-movie film star has surged to number-two in the polls in his second bid for the presidency.
• DANILO LIM, 54. A decorated hero in the campaign against long-running communist and Muslim insurgencies, the army general is seeking a Senate seat while in jail and being tried for allegedly leading two failed coups.
Candidates Guide
