An official vote count by Philippine lawmakers has determined that Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was elected president and Rep. Leni Robredo triumphed as vice president in elections held on May 9, 2016.
The congressional vote count, which ended late Friday, determined that Duterte, the crime-busting mayor of southern Davao city, received more than 16.6 million votes in an overwhelming victory, while Robredo won more than 14.4 million votes.
Robredo narrowly beat Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., the son of a dictator ousted in a 1986 “people power” revolt, with a margin of just over 263,000 votes.
The result dealt a blow to the political aspirations of the family, which had targeted the position for Marcos Jr. as a potential stepping stone to recapturing his late father’s presidential post.
“The elections have been very divisive and we need to rebuild as a nation. He (Duterte) needs everyone’s help in rebuilding our country,” Robredo said over GMA television as the country’s Congress completed the tallying of election returns.
Marcos, 58, did not immediately return telephone calls made by AFP on Friday.
But his lawyer George Garcia told AFP his client was considering filing an appeal, alleging 3.9 million votes for Marcos were not reflected in the official count.
“We suspect that these votes were credited to other candidates.... We believe these votes belong to Bongbong Marcos,” Garcia added.
President and vice president of the Philippines are both directly elected positions.
A win for the younger Marcos would have been the family’s biggest political victory since its humiliating downfall in 1986 after a “People Power” uprising ended 20 years of the family’s rule.
The Marcos family fled to US exile 30 years ago after the revolution ended the dictator’s one-man rule, in which thousands of critics were thrown in prison and $10 billion was allegedly plundered from state coffers.
The patriarch died in exile in Hawaii in 1989, but no member of the Marcos family has been convicted.
The Marcoses have since made a surprising political comeback, rebuilding their base in the dictator’s northern bailiwick of Ilocos Norte province.
The dictator’s widow, Imelda Marcos, this month swept to a third term in the House of Representatives representing Ilocos Norte.
Her daughter, Imee Marcos, was also elected as provincial governor there for the third time.
Marcos Jr. was elected to the Senate in 2010 and his term runs out on June 30.
Robredo, 52, was thrust into politics after the 2012 plane crash death of her husband, the interior minister of incumbent President Benigno Aquino III.
She served a three-year term in the House of Representatives before running for vice president under Aquino’s party.
She and Duterte are to serve single six-year terms from June 30.

Source: Arab News