As Philippines votes, could it be a ‘dead heat’ between Marcos and Robredo?
- Most surveys have indicated Bongbong Marcos will be the runaway winner, but two latest polls – one employing a different methodology – suggest the presidential race is even
- Leni Robredo, his closest competitor, raised concerns on Monday over reports of election-linked violence and malfunctioning vote-counting machines
Millions of Filipinos crowded voting centres on Monday to elect a new president in a 10-way race that is either set to be marked by a landslide win or a nail-biting cliffhanger, depending on which side of the political fence the observer is on.
The Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it expected a clear winner would emerge for the top two posts in a week, for local posts by Tuesday, and for senatorial posts by Thursday.
“By the seventh day, we can already see the winning president and vice-president based on partial and unofficial results,” Comelec Commissioner George Garcia said in a May 5 briefing.
He said the poll body expected a high turnout among the 67.5 million registered voters, of whom more than seven million would cast their ballots for the first time.
At stake are 18,180 political positions, including a six-year-term president, 12 members of the Senate who will also serve for six years, and thousands of governors, mayors and members of local legislative councils who will serve for three.
While six pre-election surveys have singled out former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jnr as the runaway winner, two new surveys, one using a different methodology and disclosed on Friday have predicted a “dead heat”, come-from-behind win for his main rival Leni Robredo.