MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III on Monday pledged a new era of clean government, as he used his first State of the Nation address to angrily condemn his predecessor's rule.

Aquino spent the first half of his speech outlining alleged anomalies by former president Gloria Arroyo and her administration that he said had left the nation's coffers nearly bare after 9 years.

"For a long time, our country lost its way on a crooked path," Aquino, who took office on June 30, told a joint sitting of Congress.

"As days go by, the massive scope of the problems we have inherited becomes much clearer. I can almost feel the weight of my responsibilities," he said.

"This report is merely a glimpse of our situation. It is not the entire picture of the crises we are facing. The reality was hidden from our people," Aquino said, as he vowed his administration would be the opposite of Arroyo's.

"We will stop wasteful spending of public funds... we will get rid of ill-conceived projects... there will be no padding of contracts," he said.

Aquino won national elections in May by a landslide after campaigning on a promise to fight corruption that has long afflicted the Philippines, but which he alleged worsened during Arroyo's time in power.

Aquino has vowed in recent weeks to have Arroyo, who was required by constitutional term limits to step down, investigated and possibly prosecuted for her alleged corrupt activities.

He said Monday that a "Truth Commission" to investigate Arroyo's alleged wrongdoings would be set up this week.

"We will go after the corrupt," Aquino said.

"We will find the truth in all the hidden wrongdoing that happened in the last nine years."

Arroyo took the unprecedented step for a sitting president of running for a seat in the House of Representatives in the elections, a move widely seen as part of a strategy to shield herself from prosecution.

She easily won the seat representing her home province and was meant to sit in parliament to hear the State of the Nation address.

But Arroyo flew to Hong Kong on Sunday, with her aides, saying she went there to support her husband while he visited a doctor.

Aquino delivered his address knowing he had unprecedented support from the public.

A survey by pollster Pulse Asia released on Monday showed that an overwhelming majority of Filipinos trusted Aquino and the officials he had appointed in his cabinet.

"President Aquino appears to be off to a good start with 85 percent of Filipinos expressing trust in him," Pulse Asia said.

This was the highest rating ever recorded by any leader since the group began its trust surveys in 1999, it said.