Robredo Reached 14 Million Votes

Vice presidential front-runner Maria Leoner ''Leni'' Robredo reached 14 million in votes in unofficial counts as of Sunday morning, maintaining a margin of 200,000 votes from Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. ranke second.

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 6:49 p.m.)  - The camp of Camarines Rep. Leni Robredo said Sunday that her lead over Sen. Ferdinand Marcos in the vice presidential race has become insurmountable as it declared victory after a mass at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City.

"Malinaw na po, hindi na kakayaning habulin pa ni Senator Marcos ang lamang ni congresswoman Robredo at hinding-hindi po nagsisinungaling ang mga numero," Boyet Dy, Robredo's head for policy, told supporters and members of the media at the gathering.  "Kahit ibigay pa natin ang lahat ng natitirang boto kay Senator Marcos, batay sa tala na official Comelec mismo ang naglalathala, kabilang na ang [Overseas Absentee Voters] at [Local Absentee Voters], lamang pa rin si congresswoman Leni Robredo ng 24, 341."

He said as of 2 p.m. yesterday, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has accounted for 99.51 percent of Certificates of Canvass.

According to Dy, only nine towns have yet to transmit their COCs namely Rizal, Laguna; Allen, Northern Samar; Catarman, Northern Samar; Lope de Vega, Northern Samar; Binidayan, Lanao del Sur; Masiu, Lanao del Sur; Tamparan, Lanao del Sur; Indanan, Sulu; and Bacungan, Zamboanga del Norte.

The nine towns have a total of 168,988 registered voters.

“Based on the latest Comelec count including the OAV (overseas absentee voting) and LAV (local absentee voting), congresswoman Leni is leading by 257,567,” Dy said.  

“It is clear that Senator Marcos can no longer overtake congresswoman Robredo even if he gets all the remaining votes,” he added.

“For now, no one can stop Leni Robredo. She is the next vice president of the country.”

Robredo: Time to move on, support next president

Robredo thanked her supporters for believing in her and vowed to treat them as “partners” in serving the country.

“Pakiusap ko po, para sa bayan, huwag na tayong makipag-away kasi panalo na tayo (I urge you, let us not engage in bickering because we have already won),” she told supporters at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City.

“It’s now time to move on for the country,” she added.

Robredo said her victory would not be possible without the help of her supporters. 

"This is truly a people's campaign," she said. 

Earlier, Marcos questioned Robredo’s surge in the canvassing and claimed to have received reports that the results were changed due to the tweaking of a computer command. He claimed that Robredo overtook him at around 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday because of the change in the code.

The Comelec and its technology provider Smartmatic, however, claimed that the changing of the code did not affect the voting results. They said the “cosmetic change” was done because the system could not recognize the "ñ" in the names of candidates.

Despite the explanation, Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon believes Smartmatic breached the protocol when it introduced a new script without the approval of the poll body.

She said the incident should be investigated even if the change in computer script did not alter the results.

Critics have accused Robredo of acting like the winner of the vice presidential race even if the canvassing of results are not yet completed. The Robredo camp, however, denied this and vowed to respect the results of the election.

Robredo reiterated that she would not tolerate any effort to rig the election results.

“I know that you believed in me because you are aware that I won’t allow myself to become an instrument or recipient of cheating,” she said.

Robredo also joked about Marcos’ claim that the LP has a “Plan B” that involves pushing her to win as vice president and preparing an impeachment complaint against leading presidential bet and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

“Some claim that I have a plan B. But my staff said that my plan B is about my bangs,” she said.

Robredo also urged her supporters to support and pray for Duterte, who has gained close to 16 million votes as of yesterday.

“Let us also support the president. Let us pray for him because he has a very difficult job to do,” she said.

Before claiming victory, Robredo and her daughters Aika, Patricia and Jillian attended mass at the Church of Gesu at the Ateneo de Manila University