Philippines' turbulent election season kicks off

The Philippines' election season kicked off Monday with politicians registering for thousands of posts, launching a typically raucous and deadly seven months of campaigning in a famously chaotic democracy.

A successor to President Benigno Aquino will be chosen in the six-yearly polls, with the frontrunners a savvy politician accused of corruption, the adopted daughter of a movie star and a low-key stalwart of the ruling Liberal Party.

Aquino, who has won international plaudits for tackling systemic corruption and for his solid economic stewardship, is imploring voters to choose longtime ally Mar Roxas to continue his "straight path" style of governance.

"This is a campaign to continue the straight path, a campaign to make our hopes possible, a campaign that will continue the heroic story of the Filipino people," Aquino said at a rally to announce the Liberal Party's Senate ticket.

But Roxas has struggled in opinion polls and is facing strong challenges from Jejomar Binay, the current vice president who is being investigated for graft, and Grace Poe, a political novice riding on her late father's popularity.

The start of a week-long registration process began on Monday for more than 18,000 positions up for grabs -- from the presidency down to village captain level -- in the May elections.

Binay, a former Aquino ally who now heads the main opposition party, was the first of the major candidates to register at election 

headquarters in Manila on Monday morning.

Binay had been a clear leader in opinion polls until the Senate and ombudsman began investigating him for alleged corrupt activities when he was mayor of Makati, the financial district in the Philippine capital.

Binay has insisted on his innocence, maintaining the allegations are part of a political smear campaign.