Campaigning for the May 9 Philippine presidential election kicked off Tuesday with candidates competing to succeed President Rodrigo Duterte, who has yet to officially endorse any hopeful up to this point.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the 64-year-old son and namesake of the late dictator, is leading in opinion polls in a strong alliance with Sara Duterte-Carpio, daughter of Duterte, as a candidate for vice president, a separately elected post.
Vice President and opposition leader Leni Robredo is struggling to catch up with Marcos. Robredo, a human rights lawyer and a vocal critic of Duterte's war on drugs, vowed to overhaul the country's "rotten" politics and improve the lives of Filipinos as she first took to her home province of Camarines Sur.
Duterte, who has been highly popular despite wide-scale abuses of power in his anti-drug war, is limited to a single six-year term as president under the Constitution.
The campaign opened without handshaking or hugging to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
While keeping crowds under control at rallies, candidates streamed their motorcades live or set up large screens for watch parties to woo 67 million voters.
Marcos, who aims to bring his family back to the presidential Malacanang Palace 36 years after his father was overthrown, chose to hold his first official rally at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan province neighboring Metro Manila, shunning the tradition of candidates kick-starting their campaigns in areas with their support bases.
Amid a pending petition filed by left-wing activists seeking to disqualify Marcos's candidacy over his 1995 tax conviction and another issue, the presidential hopeful's camp said it expected as many as 25,000 supporters to rally at the arena, or half of its seating capacity.
Manila Mayor Francisco Domagoso delivered his first campaign speech in Tondo, Manila, while retired boxing star Sen. Manny Pacquiao did so in his hometown of General Santos in the southern Philippines.
Related coverage:
Philippine presidential candidate Domagoso eyes naval buildup
Press body urges lifting of travel ban on journalist for Nobel Peace Prize
Japan, Philippines eye launch of 2-plus-2 security talks
