As of press time, over 98 per cent of election results have been counted according to the COMELEC transparency server. Candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has captured a huge majority of the votes, an overwhelming lead more than double that of his major opponent, Vice President Leni Robredo. Days after the May 9 elections, Marcos Jr. has also been recognized by foreign governments like the US, China, and Japan as the “president-elect.”

On June 30, 2022, incumbent Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s term will end while the six-year term of the new president of the Philippines will begin. It is now without doubt that the presumptive Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will be proclaimed as the 17th president of the Philippines.

Marcos Jr, widely known in the Philippines as Bongbong, is the second child and only son of former dictator, President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., and former First Lady, Imelda Romualdez Marcos. Marcos Jr. campaigned on the platform of “unity” and promised to be the “President of all Filipinos,” vowing to create more jobs, lower prices and more investment in agriculture and infrastructure. Through Victor Rodriguez, his chief of staff and spokesperson, Marcos Jr. declares: “To the world: Judge me not by my ancestors, but by my actions.”