Senator Benigno Aquino III is set to be proclaimed the Philippines' 15th president this week after parliament ends its official tally of last month's elections, legislators said on Monday.
Aquino, the 50-year-old son of much-loved democracy heroes, won the May 10 poll in a landslide after campaigning on a promise of clean government, but he has had to wait for parliament to ratify his victory.
Both houses of parliament, which have jointly convened as a national canvassing body, are expected to tally the remaining 1.4 million votes on Monday, lower house Speaker Prospero Nograles said.
"We will finish the counting today," Nograles told AFP minutes before convening the day's session.
Before Monday's session, Aquino had garnered 14.6 million votes, 5.5 million ahead of his nearest rival, former president Joseph Estrada.
Senate majority leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said the canvassing committee could release the final vote count on Monday night, then officially proclaim the winner by Tuesday or Wednesday.
Aquino told reporters after ending a week-long vacation on Sunday that he was preparing for big challenges once he took over from outgoing president Gloria Arroyo on June 30 and began his six-year term.
"There are so many things needed to be done... I think the first two years are going to be really important," said Aquino, a longtime critic of Arroyo, according to press reports.
An 11-year veteran of both houses of parliament with unremarkable legislative achievements, Aquino was catapulted into the political spotlight when his mother, Corazon Aquino, died in August.
Corazon Aquino in 1986 led a people power revolution that ended the 20-year regime of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and subsequently became president.
Her son used the massive outpouring of sympathy and support from her death as a springboard for his campaign, promising to continue a legacy of fighting corruption first espoused by his mother.
His father, also named Benigno, was shot dead at Manila airport in 1983 when he returned from US exile to lead the democracy movement against Marcos.
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