BBM-Sara, Tulfo, Ako Bisaya big winners in Cebu

The tandem of Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and Sara Duterte, mediaman Raffy Tulfo, and Ako Bisaya partylist are the big winners in Cebu for national positions in the May 9, 2022 elections.

Data from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) show that Cebu gave Marcos 1,515,812 votes. Of this number, 1,055,985 votes are from Cebu Province, including Mandaue City with 110,146 votes. Cebu City delivered 325,060 votes and Lapu-Lapu City delivered 134,767 votes.

Duterte, for her part, got 1,772,999 votes from Cebu of which 1,258,538 are from Cebu Province, including 127,053 votes from Mandaue City. She got 360,428 votes from Cebu City and 154,033 votes from Lapu-Lapu City.

“This is a commitment fulfilled,” says Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia in an interview after she was proclaimed yet again as governor with an overwhelming 1,478,436 votes, a historic first in the province.

Garcia’s political group, One Cebu, endorsed the Marcos-Duterte tandem.

“Well, I guess there are 31 million of us who are not really so bobo, after all, and who believe that there is hope for this country. For those who cannot accept it, it’s your choice. Kami naman, we hope, we continue to hope but we belong to the many Filipinos… kayo, the elitist few at educated, whoever you are, if you do not feel that you can connect with us, it's your choice. Ako, I have always chosen to connect with people. That's probably why the people responded with 1.4 million votes and a margin of almost 1.2 million over someone who wanted a bitter Cebu,” Garcia said.

SENATORS

Meanwhile, mediaman Raffy Tulfo emerged as the number one choice for Senator among Cebuanos with 1,318,808 votes. Not far behind is actor Robin Padilla with 1,315,453 votes.

Antique Representative and former Senator Loren

Legarda placed third with 1,168,637 votes while Former House Speaker and senator Alan Peter Cayetano came in fourth with 1,148,582 votes.

Incumbent Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Juan Miguel Zubiri land on the fifth and sixth spot with 1,074,404 votes and 1,070,023 votes, respectively.

Former Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar came in seventh with 1,007,544 votes while former Senator and incumbent Sorsogon Governor Chiz Escudero came in eighth with 983,673.

Former defense secretary Gilberto Teodoro ranked ninth with 887,377 votes while incumbent Senator Risa Hontiveros ranked 10th with 861,973 votes.

In 11th place is Senator Joel Villanueva with 819,310 votes and in 12th place is former senator JV Ejercito with 698,735 votes.

PARTY LIST

As far as party lists are concerned, Ako Bisaya topped the list in Cebu with 313,926 votes.

The other choices among Cebuanos are AP Partylist (51,360 votes); Agimat (78,647 votes); ACT-CIS (47,739); Ako Bisdak (33,546 votes); Ang Probinsyano (32,448 votes); 1-Pacman (31,246 votes); Duterte Youth (26,499 votes); Tingog (21,788 votes); Malasakit@Bayanihan (18,981 votes); Tutok to Win (17,918 votes); TUCP (16,634 votes); 4Ps (16,634 votes); Probinsyano Ako (14,347 votes); Coop Nattco (14,303 votes); Angkla (13,420 votes); Senior Citizens (12,989 votes); 1-Rider (12,746 votes); Angat (12,278 votes); ACT-Teachers (11,903 votes); Alsa Bisaya (11,909 votes); LGMA (11,896 votes); APEC (11,597 votes); TGP (11,192 votes) and Marino (10,297 votes.

THE BBM-SARA CHOICE

Rejene Lakibul, Chairperson of the USC Political Science Department believes that Marcos’ victory is a product of “deliberate rebranding” of his image and narratives about the Marcoses that started long before.

“They target the social media accounts like Facebook, especially YouTube. If you notice, ang narratives nila, they are trying to revise what actually happened, come up with influencers ang ilang gamiton just to change the course of direction of the

narratives,” Lakibul said.

He pointed out that the online world has become the source of information for the youth, which delivered a chunk of the votes.

Another reason for the victory, he said, is political capital wherein local chief executives promised to deliver votes for Marcos.

In Cebu, almost all incumbent officials from the province and tri-cities endorsed Marcos.

Marcos’ closest rival among those who ran, Vice President Leni Robredo, received endorsements from the private sector, religious groups, and volunteer groups.

Resources, Lakibul said, may have also been a factor.

“I don’t want to attribute this to Marcos alone but hearing sa mga anecdotes, kinsa man ang may dakong pondo? Kinsa man ang may dagkong resources? So ubay-ubay sad ang gaingon nga they just have to accept and vote because they are monitored. Speaking of political capital, naay mechanism nga mahibawan, ingon sila, on who you voted. That kind of fear man gud sa mga botante nga basin balikan ta if dili nato i-vote. I’m not singling out Marcos… there’s also a high chance that other teams are doing that… naa man gihapon na nga recurring nga problema,” Lakibul said.

During Martial Law, Cebu Province was considered an “anti-Marcos country.” The results of the elections in 2022 seem to have changed that image.