Noynoy-Mar tandem files COCs for 2010 bid

With hordes of yellow-clad supporters eagerly waiting outside, Liberal Party (LP) tandem Senators Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III and Manuel Roxas II on Saturday morning filed their certificates of candidacy at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) building in Manila. LP standard bearer Aquino and his vice presidential partner, sporting yellow and blue shirts respectively, filed their COCs before Comelec law department chief Ferdinand Rafanan. Accompanying the LP tandem were senatorial aspirants running under the Liberal Party, including Socio-economic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto, Representatives Teofisto Guingona III, Nerius Acosta, Riza Hontiveros-Baraquel, and Sonia Roco, wife of the late Sen. Raul Roco. Before Aquino and Roxas filed their certificates, Supporters of the Noynoy-Mar tandem held a Mass at the Manila Cathedral, near the Palacio del Governador that houses the Comelec. They staged a proclamation rally afterwards. The two LP bets and their relatives attended the Mass, including Noynoy's youngest sister, Kris Aquino. Outside the church, various groups like Noypi Ako, Muslim Alliance for Noynoy Aquino (MANA) and Advocates of Youth and Students for Noynoy Aquino (Ayos Na) carried banners, streamers, and even Christmas lanterns expressing their support for Aquino and other LP candidates. Showbiz supporters Supporters who were outside the church shouted in excitement when showbiz personalities, including Marian Rivera, Dingdong Dantes, Gretchen Barreto, and Cesar Montano, started to arrive one by one as the Mass was being held. Consuelo Escovido, 55, one of the Noynoy supporters eagerly waiting outside the church, said she came to the place from her house in Singalong in Manila to see her presidential bet in person. “Gusto kong makita si Noynoy. Naniniwala ako na siya ang sagot para magbago ang Pilipinas (I want to see Noynoy. I believe that he is the answer to the problems of the Philippines)," she said, while carrying a pole with a Christmas lantern, which says “Ayos Na!" Housewife Bener Sanchez, 38, took public transport from Caloocan to Manila to show her support to the LP candidates in 2010. “Iboboto ko sila kasi sila ang magpapababa ng mga bilihin at magpapaganda ng edukasyon para sa aking mga anak (I will vote for them because they will lower the prices of commodities and provide good education to my children)," she said. Jeffr Mama-o of MANA, a Muslim group supporting Aquino, meanwhile said that he would vote for the LP standard-bearer because "he is pro-people and pro-justice." “Baka siya pa makalutas ng problema sa Mindanao (Perhaps he's the one who can solve the problem in Mindanao)," he said. - with Mark Merueñas/JHU/ARCS GMANews.TV