MANILA, Philippines – Clad in a traditional barong Tagalog, survey frontrunner Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. addressed supporters of his presidential bid in a Facebook video posted Tuesday, May 3, barely a week before the May 9 vote.
“Sa darating na Mayo a-nueve ay kailangan din po tayong maging mapagbantay sa ating mga boto. Protektahan po natin ang ating naging desisyon at ’wag po nating hayaan ito’y muling nakawin sa atin,” Marcos Jr. said.
(This May 9, we need to be vigilant of our votes. Let’s protect our personal decisions and let’s not allow this election to be stolen from us again.)
He alluded to his baseless claim that his 2016 rival, Leni Robredo, had “stolen” the vice presidency from him. After Robredo won by just 263,473 votes, Marcos filed an electoral protest against her on the eve of her oath-taking. When votes were recounted in three pilot provinces chosen by Marcos, Robredo’s national lead even widened to 278,566 votes. The Supreme Court unanimously junked the protest in 2021. (TIMELINE: Marcos-Robredo election case)
It’s a return match for Marcos and Robredo in 2022; they are now the leading candidates for president.
While Robredo is far behind Marcos in pre-election surveys, the groundbreaking volunteer movement behind her hopes that their nationwide efforts will translate to votes on May 9, and make her win.
But how will the Marcos camp deal with that, if ever? Likely not sitting down, if one were to gauge the narratives that the Marcos networks have...
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