Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos trooped to polling stations nationwide early Monday amid heightened security to choose their national and local leaders, including a new president who will lead the country in the next six years.

Voting started at 7:00 a.m. (2300 GMT Sunday) at about 240,000 precincts across the archipelago the country and is scheduled to end at 3:00 p.m. (GMT 0700 Monday).

Hours before, voters lined up inside or outside polling stations, waiting for the beginning of the polls.

Some 43 million voters, almost half of the country's population,are to elect a new president, a vice-president, 12 out of the 24 senators, 212 members of the House of Representatives and up to 53 House seats reserved for party-list representatives as well as
over 17,000 local elective positions from provincial governor to town councilor.

The presidential race has boiled down to incumbent Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and opposition standard-bearer movie star Fernando Poe Jr., show recent various opinion polls.

The last survey conducted earlier this month by independent Social Weather Stations showed Arroyo has widened her lead over her nearest rival Poe by seven percentage points , 37 percent to 30 percent.

It gave senator and former police chief Panfilo Lacson 11 percent, former Education Secretary Raul Roco 6 percent and evangelist Eddie Villanueva 4 percent.

The official final results of the polls are expected to be known at least two weeks later.

Backgrounder: Presidential Candidates in Philippine elections

The following are the five presidential candidates of the Philippines' major and minor parties in Monday' general elections:

1. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, incumbent president, 57

Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan Para sa Kinabukasan, or K-4 (Coalition of Honesty and Experience for the Future), a campaign coalition composed of the ruling  Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats,Liberal Party and People's Reform Party.

2. Fernando Poe, Jr., movie actor/producer, 64

Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino, or KMP (Coalition of United Filipinos), an  opposition campaign coalition composed of Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (Philippine Democratic Fight), Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino (Force of the Philippine  Masses) and Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban (Philippine Democratic Party-Force of People).

3. Panfilo Lacson, senator, 56

Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (Philippine Democratic Fight)

4. Raul Roco, Lawyer, 62

Alyansa ng Pagasa (Alliance of Hope), a campaign coalition of Aksyon Demokratiko (Democratic Action), Reporma (Reform) and Promdi (Provincial First Development Initiative)

5. Eduardo Villanueva, Evangelist, 57

Bangon Pilipinas (Rising of the Philippines)

Source: Xinhua