Ferdinand Marcos Jr. leads unofficial count to be next Philippine president

MANILA, Philippines — The son of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos was leading an unofficial count of votes cast Monday to be the next president of the Philippines, 36 years after his father was ousted over widespread corruption and human rights abuses.

Former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. received more than 27.7 million votes to replace President Rodrigo Duterte, based on a partial count of election returns sent to a separate official server for transparency reasons.

Vice President Leni Robredo, a human rights lawyer who beat Marcos Jr. in 2016, was in second place with more than 13.2 million votes.

Marcos Jr.’s running mate, Sara Duterte-Caprio, daughter of the outgoing president, was also leading the vice presidential race, with 27.9 million votes. Robredo’s running mate, Sen. Francisco Pangilinan, was at a distant second with some 8.2 million votes.

Despite the lead, Marcos Jr. urged his supporters to “keep watch on the vote” and to wait until the count has reached 100% before celebrating.

“Even if the count is not yet over, I cannot wait to give thanks to all of you for all the help, to all those who joined our fight, your sacrifices, your work, the time and talent you gave us,” he said in a statement aired over social media.

“Any endeavor as large as this does not involve one person,” he added. “It involves very, very many people working in very, very many different ways and to all of them, I thank you.”

Some supporters gathered outside Marcos Jr.’s campaign headquarters in Mandaluyong City in metropolitan Manila, cheering his lead. They were waving Philippine flags and singing the campaign jingle, a remake of a song about a “new society” popularized by his father’s regime.

Robredo’s supporters gathered for a prayer vigil at a public plaza in her hometown of Naga City.

After casting her vote, she said the reports of irregularities from all over the country were “disturbing.”

“We do not want the integrity and cleanliness of this election to be trampled on because that is where the trouble will start,” she said.

Under the Philippine electoral process, the official tallying of votes cast for president and vice president will be done by the Senate and the House of Representatives, which aim to proclaim the official winners in late May. The new government officials will be sworn in on June 30.

Marcos Jr.’s family was chased out of the country by the People Power Revolution in 1986 and fled to the United States in selfimposed exile.