INTERNATIONAL: With just three months before the May 9 elections, the race to various national posts kicked off Tuesday in different areas in the country.

The race to lead the Philippines has kicked off on Tuesday ,February 8. Candidates hit the hustings for the three-month campaign season in a chaotic and colourful charm offensive aimed at wooing millions of voters typically more interested in personality than policy.

The candidates include boxer Manny Pacquiao, the son of a reviled dictator, a former teen actor, a former chief of police and Philippines Vice President Leni Robredo.

More than 35 years after the country has emerged from his father's dictatorship, the 64-year old son, Ferdinand Marcos Jr is running for the highest position but refused to have interviews for presidentiables but has attended a cooking show.

Boosted by a massive social media campaign and a formidable alliance with first daughter and vice-presidential candidate Sara Duterte, Marcos Jr - one of the most polarising figures in the Philippines - has vowed to "unify the country".

Incumbent Vice President Leni Robredo - a former lawyer for the disadvantaged and a rival of Marcos Jr and Duterte - is second in voter surveys.

Kicking off her pink-coloured campaign in Lupi town in the central province of Camarines Sur, Vice President Leni Robredo has told supporters she was "filled with courage because you are with me".

Leni Robredo is ahead of celebrity mayor Francisco Domagoso, boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao and ex-police chief Panfilo Lacson.

According to the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec), the campaign period for national positions (president, vice president, senator and party-list groups) will be from February 8 to May 7.

The campaign period for those seeking local posts, meanwhile, will start on March 25.