- The winner receives a 6-year term as president
- Marcos is the leader in all studies this year
- Fierce rivalry between Robredo, Marcos
MANILA, May 7 (Reuters) – Crowds of hundreds of thousands gathered in the Philippines on Saturday, where leading presidential candidates made a last-ditch effort to attract undecided voters with patriotic, optimistic messages after a split election race.
Fireworks lit up the sky as singers, celebrities and social media stars took to the stage in the capital, Manila, ahead of Monday’s election, which pitted Vice President Lenny Robredo against host Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son of the notorious late dictator who ruled the Philippines for 20 years. Read more
If opinion polls are accurate, 57-year-old Robredo will need a late jump or low turnout to win the presidency, with Marcos, a former congressman and senator, leading it by more than 30 percentage points, leading each poll. year. Read more
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The two represent a political abyss that has existed for more than four decades, with Robredo’s roots in the movement that led to the 1986 “People’s Power” uprising that toppled the older Marcos and Marcos Jr. on the brink of an almost unthinkable return. once disgraced first family.
Marcos threw his campaign as a chance to overcome this division.
“We will come to the day when, when we join forces, when we face the world again and shout to our friends and wave our flag, we will be proud to say we are Filipinos,” Marcos told a riotous crowd in red shirts. which waves national flags.
Opponents of Marcos say the presidency is the culmination of many years of efforts to change the historical tales of authoritarianism and looting that haunt his family, which despite falling from grace remains one of the richest and most influential in Filipino politics.
Marcos Jr. has been criticized for his lack of a political platform and for avoiding debate and media appearances, a strategy that minimizes control and allows him to generate social media support among voters born long after his father’s rule.
Monday will be the rematch of the 2016 vice presidential election, which Marcos seemed to win before losing just 200,000 votes to Robredo. He claims to have cheated and is fighting hard to overturn the result, which the Supreme Court has upheld. Read more
“This battle is not for one person or candidate. “I’m just a bearer of the love that engulfs Filipinos,” Robredo told hundreds of thousands of supporters at a rally that turned sections of the city’s business district pink, the color of her campaign.
If the election reflects opinion polls, Marcos, 64, may be the first president of the Philippines to be elected by a majority since the end of his father’s rule.
“I am so happy because he is close to taking office as the next president. I am sure of that, as long as there is no fraud,” said Marcos supporter Emma Montes, 43, a domestic helper after attending Marcos’ rally. .
Some 65 million Filipinos have the right to vote Monday to decide on President Rodrigo Duterte’s successor after six years in power, plus thousands of other posts, from lawmakers and governors to mayors and councilors.
Christian Dave Palero, a 22-year-old call center agent wearing a pink jacket, said he still believed Robredo had a chance to triumph.
“We are exhausted, but we are happy and fulfilled,” he said. “We’re confident Lenny can win.”
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Report by Neil Jerome Morales and Lisa Marie David; Additional reports by Jay Ereno, Adrian Portugal and Eloisa Lopez; Edited by Martin Petty
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