2022 Philippine presidential election
The 2022 Philippine presidential and vice presidential elections were held on May 9, 2022, as part of the 2022 general election. This was the 17th direct presidential election and 16th vice presidential election in the Philippines since 1935, and the sixth sextennial presidential and vice presidential election since 1992.
Turnout
83.07% 
2.38pp
Incumbent president Rodrigo Duterte was ineligible for re-election because the president is limited to a single term under the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Incumbent vice president Leni Robredo was eligible for re-election but chose to run for the presidency instead. Therefore, this election determined the 17th president and the 15th vice president. The president and vice president are elected separately, so the two winning candidates can come from different political parties.
The election took place amidst the COVID-19 pandemic which had caused the country's economy to fall into recession.[1] Other key issues were the continuation of President Duterte's policies, a re-examination of the country's foreign relationships in response to its territorial dispute with China, management of the country's debt, rising inflation, and climate change.[2][3]
The ticket of former senator Bongbong Marcos and Davao City mayor Sara Duterte won the presidency and vice presidency respectively, defeating incumbent vice president Leni Robredo and incumbent senator Francis Pangilinan in a landslide. It was the first election since the establishment of the Fifth Republic in 1987 where the president and vice president were elected by a majority, and the first election since 2004 where the winning president and vice president came from the same presidential ticket.[4] The election saw the highest turnout since 1998, with about 56 million voters participating. Marcos received 31.6 million votes, the most votes ever cast for a candidate in a presidential election in the Philippines, while Duterte received 32.2 million votes, the most votes ever cast for a candidate in the country.
Marcos became the second president from Ilocos Norte after his father, former president
Ferdinand Marcos,[5][6][7][8] while Duterte became the first vice president from Davao City and the youngest to be elected.[9] This also marked the return of the Marcos family to power for the first time since the People Power Revolution.[10][11] Marcos was inaugurated on June 30, 2022, while Duterte was inaugurated earlier on June 19, 2022.
Bongbong Marcos campaigning in Makati
Isko Moreno and Willie Ong campaigning in Navotas
Leni Robredo and Francis Pangilinan campaigning at the Quezon Memorial Circle
Manny Pacquiao campaigning in Marikina
Panfilo Lacson and Tito Sotto at a town hall meeting in Pasig
Aftermath[edit]
Election night[edit]
Despite calls to extend voting hours due to technical difficulties with the vote-counting machines (VCMs), the COMELEC closed voting at 7:00 pm, although they allowed those within 30 meters of the polling precinct by that time to cast their votes.[295]
Transmission of election returns began shortly after closing. Within four hours, about 80,000 returns were transmitted to the commission, an improvement from 2016 and 2019 where it took ten and eleven hours respectively.[296] The COMELEC attributed the speed to improvements in the facilities, the training of workers and technicians, and the services by telecommunication companies.[296][297]
At around 11 pm, three hours after initial results of the elections were released, Marcos made a short speech thanking his supporters for voting for him. Despite leading in the preliminary results, he acknowledged that the counting was not yet over. He also urged his supporters to be vigilant and watch their votes.[298] Shortly after 3:00 am, Robredo issued a statement to thank her supporters, and called their campaign "historic" for being led by volunteers. She reiterated that she would not back down, noting that not all votes have been counted yet and that other issues had yet to be resolved, but called on her supporters to listen to the voice of the electorate.[299]
Concessions[edit]
Isko Moreno conceded to Marcos the day after the elections. He urged his supporters to support Marcos.[300] Pacquiao conceded to Marcos and bid him well wishes.[301] Willie Ong also conceded to Duterte, wishing both her and Marcos success.[302] Faisal Mangondato and Carlos Serapio also conceded, via a statement released by their political party, saying that Marcos and Duterte "obtained the People’s Mandate."[303] Manny SD Lopez conceded to Duterte, saying "Whatever the Filipino electorates considered in their choice of candidates, we have to respect, for this is the essence of democracy."[304] Independent candidate Ernesto Abella also conceded several days after the election, saying he respected the results and acknowledging Marcos as the next president.[202]
Lacson, while he did not concede, said that he was retiring to his home in Cavite. His running mate, Tito Sotto, conceded the vice presidency in a separate statement, and wished the incoming administration, without naming names, "good luck."[305] In a thanksgiving event in Ateneo de Manila University, Robredo and Pangilinan urged their supporters to accept the results of the election, while not explicitly conceding.
Leody de Guzman, while citing irregularities on election day, conceded;[306] his running mate, Walden Bello, slammed Marcos, saying the country may face "six years of instability" and that a large part of the country will "refuse to grant legitimacy and credibility to the rule of a family of thieves".[307]
Protests[edit]
On May 10, several groups protested in front of the COMELEC main office at the Palacio del Gobernador in Intramuros.[308] They alleged massive electoral fraud, citing reports of 1,800 defective or malfunctioning VCMs, the voters being asked to leave their ballots at the precinct for mass feeding after some VCMs broke down, and the fast transmission of results. Protesters were reportedly chanting "Marcos, Magnanakaw" (lit. 'Marcos, Thief'), a chant popularized during the 1980s.[309] Meanwhile, the Office of the Student Regent of the University of the Philippines called on their students to walk out, announcing that there will be "no classes under a Marcos presidency."[310][311]
The electoral commission has denied and debunked claims of electoral fraud.[312] Election watchdog Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) disputed claims that the speedy transmission of returns was suspicious,[313] while the COMELEC stated that leaving ballots behind if VCMs malfunction is part of the protocol to avoid voter disenfranchisement.[314] The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) has found no irregularities in the partial and unofficial count.[315][316] Meanwhile, the PPCRV and other statisticians dismissed claims of a programmed consistent percentage gap between Marcos and Robredo, after a viral post in social media claimed the consistency was evidence for fraud. According to the post, at every incremental update in the counting, Robredo's count never deviated from 47 percent of the number of votes that Marcos had, a phenomenon they considered suspicious.[316]
In 2023, Eliseo Rio Jr., a former acting secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology, investigated along with a team of forensics experts the transmission of election returns to the COMELEC after he had doubts about the high transmission rate, and alleged that a large portion of election returns from Metro Manila, Cavite and Batangas were transmitted through the IP address 192.168.0.2, an address commonly used within local area networks.[317][318] Asked about the allegations in July 2023, COMELEC Chairman George Garcia stated that the IP address was accurate, as it was being used within local networks for 20,300 of their modems, and stated that "there was nothing illegal about it. It does not matter if the IP have the same address. What is important is that the transmitted election results are accurate."[318] Election watchdogs, including the National Movement for Free Elections, were present during the testing and aware that only one IP address was used.[318]
International reactions[edit]
Marcos was congratulated by diplomats from several countries after initial results showing his victory were released. Chinese ambassador to Manila Huang Xilian paid the president-elect a courtesy visit on May 12, saying China was looking forward “to bring[ing] the two countries' Relationship of Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation to new heights.”.[319] United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed Marcos's election, stating that the United States was looking forward to working with him to "strengthen the enduring alliance between the United States and the Philippines."[320] Meanwhile, other countries such as Japan expressed their willingness to work with the incoming administration.[321][322]
U.S. president Joe Biden later called Marcos to congratulate him. Biden said he was looking forward to working with Marcos to strengthen Philippines–United States relations and expand cooperation on key issues.[323][324] However, White House coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Kurt Campbell said there were “historical considerations” that could pose challenges.[325]
On May 19, Marcos said that he had held “very substantial” talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who had expressed support for his independent foreign policy. He said that ties with China would expand and “shift to a higher gear”, promising to upgrade relations in “not only diplomatic, not only trade, but also in culture, even in education, even in knowledge, even in health, to address whatever minor disagreements that we have right now”.[325]