Manila: Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son of late leader Ferdinand Marcos, has won the presidential election over his main rival, incumbent Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo, with 83.1 per cent of unofficial votes counted, preliminary results revealed Tuesday.
The latest tally said Marcos Jr. garnered 26,681,414 votes over Robredo’s 12,736,644 cast in the election on Monday, reports Xinhua news agency.
In a video message, Marcos Jr., popularly knowns as Bongbong, thanked “all of those who have been with us in this long, sometimes very difficult journey for the last months”.
“I want to thank you for all you have done for us. There are thousands of you out there, volunteers, parallel groups, political leaders, that cast their lot with us,” he said.
However, Marcos urged his supporters to be vigilant until the last vote is counted, saying the counting is still underway.
“The counting is not over yet. Let’s wait for the full counting to finish 100 per cent. We need to be vigilant,” he added.
Marcos’ running mate, Sara Duterte-Carpio, the 43-year-old daughter of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, also won the Vice Presidential race, garnering 26,701,951 votes from the 83.1 per cent counted votes.
The Commission on Elections, which will start counting the votes on Tuesday, is yet to release the official tally of the election.
The poll body will only canvass votes of the senatorial candidates.
Congress will canvass the votes of presidential and vice-presidential candidates when it resumes session on May 23.
Filipinos voted to elect a new President, Vice President, 12 of the 24-seat Senate, and over 300 members of the House of Representatives.
Poll body data showed that 65.7 million voters registered for the 2022 elections.
Over 18,000 national and local positions are up for grabs.