President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III on Thursday assured his running mate Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas that his incoming administration will not leave the graduating legislator behind.

In his press conference after his proclamation, Aquino said that he regretted not being able to get Roxas to become part of the first year in the incoming government because of the one-year constitutional ban on candidates who lost in elections from presidential appointments.

“It may be a big loss for me that I cannot tap his abilities, strengths, diligence, and expertise because we must comply with the law. But we will talk about this after the one-year ban because he is a big part of our victory,” Aquino said.

“He will be a big help to me in addressing the problems we are facing. After the one-year ban, he will definitely have a position and whatever he chooses, we will give that to him,” he added.

Aquino, who will be inaugurated as the 15th Philippine president on June 30, said this after admitting that he will have a hard time leading the nation in recovering from projected P400-billion budget deficit incurred in the last year of the outgoing Arroyo administration.