- Voting is underway, a poll official said early turnout was encouraging
- There were no reports of serious interruptions in the poll
- The election is a rematch between favorite Marcos, Vice President Robredo
- The unofficial count may indicate the winner hours after the election closes
BATAC CITY / NAGA CITY, Philippines, May 9 (Reuters) – Philippine voters went to the polls Monday with the prospect of a once unthinkable return to the Marcos family, 36 years after strong leader Ferdinand Marcos was ousted. “the power of the people.”
The presidential election is pitting Vice President Lenny Robredo against former Senator and Congressman Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the dictator’s son and namesake, whose two-decade rule ended in public revolt and the humiliating exile of his family.
About 18,000 positions, from vice president, Senate and House of Representatives seats to mayors, governors and councilors, are also in the pipeline.
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Opinion polls show that Marcos, popularly known as Bongbong, leads his rival by more than 30 percentage points in the presidential race after leading every poll this year. This means that Robredo will need a late jump or low turnout if he wants to win.
Voters began queuing long before the election opened at 6 a.m. (10 p.m. GMT on Sunday), with polling stations having to work longer than usual due to COVID-19 safeguards.
Polling stations end at 7 pm and an unofficial vote count can give an indication of the winner within hours.
Marcos, 64, cast his ballot in his home province of Ilocos Norte, surrounded by bodyguards and accompanied by family members, including his son, who is running for Congress.
Asked by a reporter how the vote was going, he said: “It was good” before leaving the section.
Marcos has not presented a real political platform, but his presidency is expected to ensure continuity from his outgoing leader, Rodrigo Duterte, whose ruthless, strong approach has proved popular and helped him consolidate power quickly.
His daughter, Sara Duterte-Carpio, will win the presidency. Although the president and vice president are elected separately, Marcos and Duterte-Carpio are aligned.
Election Commissioner George Erwin Garcia said he was “shocked” by the number of voters flocking to polling stations despite the threat of a pandemic.
The Electoral Commission (Comelec) said it had not received any reports of serious problems on the ground so far, but there were small delays in voting in some areas in the troubled southern region of Mindanao.
Filipinos line up in front of a polling station to vote in the national elections in Tondo, Metro Manila, Philippines, May 9, 2022. REUTERS / Willy Kurniawan
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Separately, police said three members of a local peacekeeping force were shot dead by unidentified assailants near a polling station in Mindanao’s Magindanao province.
In some cases, the long queues are also due to faulty counting machines, according to media reports.
Robredo, who voted in her home province of Camarines Sur, expressed concern after the reports.
“I hope the authorities will show that they are on top of everything,” she told reporters.
The inquiry body is due to announce a decision Tuesday on appeals overturning earlier decisions rejecting four disqualification petitions against Marcos.
One of the early voters, Thelma Manansala, expressed hope that her compatriots would be shrewd in choosing the next leaders.
“We Filipinos are facing a lot of difficulties and we really need a change of leadership,” said Manansala, 58.
Marcos is backed by the support of much younger Filipinos born after the 1986 revolution, after launching a massive social media offensive in an optimistic campaign with hints of historical revisionism. Read more
His supporters have dismissed stories of robbery, stewardship and brutality under his late father’s martial law as lies spread by opponents, presenting what critics tell him as a different version of the story. Marcos’ camp has denied conducting disinformation campaigns.
Despite his fall from grace, the Marcos family returned from exile in the 1990s and has been a powerful force in politics ever since, retaining influence with immense wealth and distant connections.
The vote also provided an opportunity for Marcos to avenge his loss to Robredo in the 2016 presidential election, a narrow defeat of just 200,000 votes that he unsuccessfully tried to undo.
Marcos avoids debate and campaigns for a message of optimism and unity.
Robredo, 57, a former human rights lawyer and staunch liberal, has vowed to improve education and prosperity, fight poverty and improve market competition if elected.
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Report by Enrico Della Cruz, Karen Lema, Peter Blaza in Manila, Adrian Portugal and Eloise Lopez in Ilocos Norte and Jay Ereno and Lisa Marie David in Camarines Sur; Writing by Martin Petty; Edited by Ed Davis and Raju Gopalakrishnan
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