Around 50 million Filipinos, most living in poverty, will be choosing a new president in a field of 10 candidates.

Presidential hopefuls shook hands with market vendors, labourers, and students as they hopped from town to town in provinces near Manila, kicking off the 90-day campaign period which some analysts expect may drastically change current opinion polls showing opposition senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino as the frontrunner.

Noynoy, the son of revered democracy icon Corazon Aquino, kicked off his campaign with a Catholic mass in his home province of Tarlac, where hundreds of local supporters wearing yellow gathered outside a church to welcome him.

Aquino´s lead has been cut by his nearest rival, billionaire senator Manuel "Manny" Villar in the latest opinion poll last month. They are now statistically tied.

Analysts said Aquino´s track record in public service is thin, and his popularity rides on the legacy of parents. His father Ninoy fiercely opposed dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and was assassinated upon returning from political exile. The massive outpouring of grief during his mother´s funeral revived poignant memories of the people power revolution that she inspired.