VICTORY appeared imminent for Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. who topped the partial, unofficial count of votes in the vice presidential race in the May election.
As of 6:20 p.m. on Monday, the senator was leading the initial tally of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV).
According to the PPRCV, Marcos got 1,439,972 votes from 8,416 cluster precincts nationwide. This is equivalent to 9.1 percent of the 92,509 precincts nationwide, Marcos was followed by Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo who got 1,253,562 votes. In third place was Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano with 514, 242 votes, followed by Sen. Francis Escudero, 434,377 votes, Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th, 73,669 votes, and Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan, 63,573 votes.
Marcos also led his rivals in the exit polls held by the Manila Broadcasting Company, getting 1,798,700 votes. He was trailed by Robredo who got 1,582, 260 votes, Cayetano, 665,562, Escudero, 551,535, Trillanes, 92,501, and Honasan, 79,410.
In the count of ABS-CBN network, Marcos also led with 1,389,971 votes, followed by Robredo.
In the TV5 count, Marcos likewise notched the top spot with 604,705 votes as of 5:44 p.m. Robredo posted 536,264 votes and Cayetano, 218,378. Next was Escudero with 180,464 votes and in fifth place was Trillanes, 31,270 votes.
Marcos said he is not surprised by his early lead.
“I am feeling that by all indications we should be successful today. We will continue to monitor and closely watch the developments,” he said.