While the official results of the presidential election in the Philippines won’t be known for a little longer, the preliminary tally with more than 94% of precincts reporting on Monday showed Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Junior with an insurmountable lead over the incumbent VP Leni Robredo.
Meanwhile, Sara Duterte-Carpio is far ahead of any other candidate in the vice-presidential race.
The incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte could not run due to term limits, but his daughter chose to run for vice-president. Also known as “Inday Sara,” she got over 30 million votes, or more than 61% – far ahead of the second-place Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan with 8.9 million (18%).
Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos is winning by a smaller margin over Robredo, but as of Monday evening had 30 million votes (58.8%) to her 14.3 million (28%). Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao parlayed his fame into 3.4 million (6.7%) votes, coming in third place.
Large crowds of Filipinos gathered outside Marcos’s campaign headquarters on EDSA boulevard in Manila on Monday evening, chanting “Bongbong, Sara!” and rejoicing in their apparent victory, the New York Times reported. Marcos urged them to be patient, however.
“It’s not over yet,” he said, referring to the official vote counting yet to be finalized. “Let us keep watch over our votes. And if I do get lucky, I am hoping for your unending help and trust.”