Philippine poll chief to trailing Marcos: prove vote count anomaly
It’s been a close fight for Philippine vice president between administration bet congresswoman Leni Robredo and Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, son and namesake of late president Ferdinand Marcos.
Philippine election officials challenged Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jnr on Wednesday to prove his allegation of irregularities in the counting of votes for vice president, where he has been overtaken by his closest rival.
They also rejected Marcos’ request for a stop to the unofficial tally by an accredited citizens’ watchdog, which uses the same election returns that are transmitted to the Commission on Elections.
The son of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. had initially led the partial count by the watchdog known by its acronym PPCRV. But as of Wednesday afternoon, the administration’s candidate Rep. Leni Robredo was leading by more than 230,000 votes, putting her 0.6 points ahead of Marcos.
The tally is based on 95.5 per cent of votes nationwide. Ballots from overseas Filipinos are now considered crucial in the race for vice-president.
Rodrigo Duterte, the bombastic mayor of southern Davao city, was elected the new president, based on the PPCRV results that gave him an unassailable lead.