MANILA — The Philippine Congress on Wednesday started the official count of votes cast in the May 9 presidential election, though confirmation of Rodrigo Duterte’s apparent victory may be slowed by disputes in the more closely fought vice presidential race.
Duterte, the 71-year-old mayor of southern Davao city, exceeded his closest rival by more than 6 million votes in an unofficial tally. All four rivals have conceded defeat.
The unofficial tally of votes cast in the vice presidential contest showed Rep. Leni Robredo leading by more than 200,000 votes. Rival Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has disputed that nearly complete tally based on alleged elections irregularities.
As the counting began at the House of Representatives, the candidates’ initial vote totals were reflected on a big screen.
In the plenary hall of Congress, lawmakers and candidates’ lawyers were seen checking election returns contained in ballot boxes. If there are no objections or questions, the votes are counted from each province.
As the canvassing opened, Marcos’s lawyer Didagen Dilangalen asked lawmakers to count the votes cast for president separately from the vice presidential votes so Duterte could immediately and officially be proclaimed the winner.
The lawmakers refused and proceeded to count them races simultaneously.
Marcos is the 58-year-old son and namesake of the Philippine dictator ousted in a 1986 “people power” revolt due to widespread human rights abuses and economic plunder.
He had topped most preelection surveys, though Robredo overtook him in surveys a few days before the vote.
While the dictator’s wife, Imelda, and two children, including Marcos Jr., have long managed to make a political comeback, a victory by Marcos Jr. would bring a Marcos tantalizingly close to the seat of power the strongman lost three decades ago.
The congressional count would take a few days normally, but it could last longer if Marcos’s camp raises continuous objections as thousands of election returns from across the country of more than 100 million people are checked and counted.
The new president and vice president are to take their posts on June 30, when the six-year term of President Benigno Aquino III ends. Aquino campaigned for a former member of his Cabinet, Mar Roxas, and the 52-year-old Robredo, a lawyer who advocates for the poor and whose husband was a popular local politician who died in a plane crash in 2012.
