MANILA – Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son and name of the ousted dictator, moved closer to victory in the Philippine presidential election on Monday as early election data shared by the government brought him took the position of command over Leni Robredo, his closest rival.
With 70.28% of the election results counted in the primary as of 10 p.m. Manila time, Marcos had 23 million votes cast, more than double Robredo’s 10.9 million votes, according to ABS. -CBN News, a local broadcaster with access to the official election server. Sara Duterte, the daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte, who is running for vice president in favor of Mr. Marcos, also leads by a large margin. She had 18.6 million votes, more than three times more than her closest opponent, Senator Francis Pangilinan, who had six million votes.
But by the time the polls close at 7pm, Accounts of alarming irregularities have been reported nationwide: voting machine malfunction, insufficient number of backup machines, complaints that voters missed the registration roll and their ballot was tampered with.
Mr. Marcos’ leadership was so strong that it seemed difficult for Mrs. Robredo to prevail. But in a speech to his supporters on Monday night, with official counting days ahead, he called for patience.
“It’s not over yet,” he said. “Let us keep track of our votes. And if I’m lucky, I hope for your unwavering support and trust. “
The official counting begins at 1:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday, and winners are expected to be announced in the coming days. It remains to be seen whether Mr Marcos will declare victory before that process is complete.
Human rights activists, intellectuals and hundreds of thousands of young people have opposed Marcos’ bid for president, fearing that democracy will deteriorate further under his rule. For many victims of Marcos’ brutal rule, his son’s victory was tantamount to wiping out their own experience, because his family spent years distorting their shared memory of atrocities during martial law.
If Mr Marcos wins the presidency, it will be an unusual return for a family that was fired from office more than three decades ago. In 1986, millions of Filipinos, angered by human rights abuses and corruption during the Marcos regime, took to the streets in massive protests known as the “People Power” uprising, forcing the entire family family had to flee to Hawaii. However, they returned after the death of the older Marcos in 1989.
Before the election, every opinion poll suggested Mr. Marcos would win the presidency and do so by the widest margin in three decades.
Mr. Marcos, known by his boyhood nickname, “Bongbong”, runs on the solidarity platform, saying he “will help the Filipino people rise again.” But many of his policy proposals remain slim and he has received few media interviews. He appealed to a public that had grown distrustful of the country’s brand of democracy and its failure to address the basic needs of its citizens. Poverty is widespread, inequality is growing, and corruption is still rampant.
Mr. Marcos served as deputy governor, governor and congressman in Ilocos Norte, the family stronghold, for much of the late 1980s to 2010. That was when he entered national politics when he was elected to the state. parliamentarian.
