Noynoy: If I win, I won't run for any position after my term

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte—If Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino wins the presidency, he promises not to follow the footsteps of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in running for a lower office when his term ends. Aquino made the promise Tuesday in a press conference at the Leyte Park Hotel in this major Visayan capital city, where he and his running mate Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas II are campaigning. "If I win this election, this will be my last run in public office," Aquino said. The Liberal Party standard bearer, the only son of former president Corazon Aquino who died last year, said the more than two years he spent as senator, nine years as congressman, and six years as the son of the president of the republic, was enough for him. In contrast, President Arroyo—who served as senator from 1992 to 1998, vice president from 1998 to 2001, and president since—is seeking a House seat as representative of Pampanga's second district. It is the first time in Philippine history that a Philippine president ran for a lower office after his or her term in Malacañang. Like LP standard-bearer Aquino, Mrs. Arroyo also had a foretaste of life in the Presidential Palace as the daughter of a former Philippine president, Diosdado Macapagal. And, like Aquino, she also holds a bachelor’s degree in economics. Aquino, however, has consistently stressed the differences between him and Mrs. Arroyo. A staunch critic of alleged corruption in the Arroyo government, he reiterated his campaign promise that he would not steal public funds.—Johanna Camille Sisante/JV, GMANews.TV