Marcos thanks voters as quick count shows win

MANILA, Philippines — The Marcoses are returning to Malacañang 36 years after they were forced to leave the country during the 1986 EDSA people power revolt, as the unofficial tally of votes showed that former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is poised to win the presidency.

While the quick count showed a commanding 31 million votes or an insurmountable lead of more than 16 million votes over his closest rival, Vice President Leni Robredo, as of yesterday afternoon, Marcos has opted to wait for the completion of the unofficial canvass before declaring victory.

Unofficial tally of votes as of 4:47 p.m. covering 97.97 percent of total votes cast showed Marcos garnering 31,002,650 votes against Robredo’s 14,780,371 votes.

“Many are saying that it is over, but it’s really not yet so we will wait, when it is 100 percent sure, until we celebrate,” he said in a public address before dawn yesterday.

Marcos expressed gratitude to all his supporters.

“But even if the counting is not yet over, my gratitude cannot wait,” he said in Filipino.

The Partido Federal ng Pilipinas standard bearer thanked the volunteers, parallel groups and political leaders who joined his UniTeam with vice presidential frontrunner Sara Duterte-Carpio in the “long and sometimes very difficult journey” in the last six months.

“I will count on your help, that you will not tire, that your trust will not run out because we still have a lot to do in the future,” Marcos appealed to his supporters.

The election returns have yet to be officially canvassed by Congress. Unofficial results from the Commission on Elections’ transparency server showed a Marcos victory by at least 60 percent, the first in the country’s electoral history under the multi-party system.

Carpio said UniTeam is a symbol of “brave, persevering and united Filipinos.”

Carpio, who now has over 31 million votes, thanked Filipinos for accepting the UniTeam’s message of unity.

She expressed her gratitude to her supporters.

The Davao City mayor is in Manila to hold thanksgiving meet ups for the UniTeam slate, staff and volunteers.

Call for unity

Members of the ruling PDP-Laban party yesterday called for unity as they congratulated Marcos and Carpio, both of whom are holding commanding leads over their rivals.

In a statement posted on the party’s Facebook page, PDP-Laban president and Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi called on everyone to now “focus on working together for the good of all.”

Cusi expressed hope that Marcos and Carpio would “lead the Philippines to a better tomorrow.”

“I would like to congratulate the Uniteam Alliance, the tandem of BBM and Inday Sara for a landslide victory. Perhaps, when the counting is over, we will have a majority president leading our country,” Cusi said in an interview uploaded on the ABS-CBN News Twitter account.

PDP-Laban endorsed the candidacy of Marcos and Carpio, but party chairman President Duterte chose not to support any presidential aspirant.

The ruling party fielded five senatorial candidates but only one of them, actor Robin Padilla, made it to the Magic 12.

Padilla topped the senatorial race with more than 26 million votes, according to the latest partial unofficial results.

The other PDP-Laban senatorial candidates are former Cabinet members Greco Belgica and Salvador Panelo, broadcaster Rey Langit and former energy undersecretary Astra Pimentel.

Panelo, former presidential spokesman and chief presidential legal counsel, said everyone should accept the decision of the voters.

Panelo thanked his supporters, saying they inspired him to deliver on his promises in another capacity.

Transition talks

Meanwhile, the Department of Finance (DOF) has initiated transition talks with the camp of Marcos Jr. even if he has yet to be proclaimed president.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III confirmed yesterday that the DOF has started transition talks with the Marcos camp after unofficial tally of votes showed a landslide win for the son of the late dictator.

“The briefing has begun, (and) so far, so good,” Dominguez said in a text message to reporters.

Dominguez refused to disclose the negotiators from the Marcos camp involved in the transition talks, who might be the next economic managers.

The DOF is planning to submit a consolidation plan to the next administration outlining fiscal reforms that it can undertake to deal with a bloated budget deficit and soaring national debt.

The deficit widened by 22 percent to a record P1.67 trillion last year, from P1.37 trillion in 2020, as the increase in state spending outgrew the recovery in revenue collections.

When measured against the gross domestic product (GDP), the deficit rose to 8.6 percent, from 7.65 percent.

The outstanding debt of the Philippines grew by 20 percent to P11.73 trillion in 2021, from P9.8 trillion in 2020.

The debt-to-GDP ratio ballooned to a 16-year high of 60.5 percent, beating the international standard of 60 percent observed by credit monitors and multilateral lenders.

The incoming presidency will try to build on the 5.7 percent GDP growth last year after the economy suffered its worst decline of 9.6 percent in 2020.

For 2022, the government hopes to expand the economy by seven percent to nine percent in a push to return to pre-pandemic levels of growth. — Alexis Romero, Elijah Felice Rosales, Edith Regalado