In his inaugural speech on June 30, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. claimed to have the biggest electoral mandate in Philippine history.
This needs context.
STATEMENT
At the beginning of his speech, Marcos Jr. said:
“This is a historic moment for us all. I feel it deep within me. You, the people, have spoken, and it is resounding. When my call for unity started to resonate with you, it did so because it echoed your yearnings, mirrored your sentiments, and expressed your hopes for family, for country, and for a better future. That is why it reverberated and amplified as it did, to deliver the biggest electoral mandate in the history of Philippine democracy.”
Source: Presidential Communications Operations Office, Speech of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Romualdez Marcos Jr. during his Inauguration (transcript), June 30, 2022, watch from 2:24 to 3:01
FACT
While Marcos Jr. did garner the highest number of votes in Philippine electoral history, his share of the vote is only the country’s third highest margin of victory.
Data from then-Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office’s Philippine Electoral Almanac and Congress showed that former president Ramon Magsaysay’s victory in the 1953 elections still holds the highest vote percentage in Philippine electoral history. He earned over 2.9 million votes, or 68.9% of the 4,227,719 total votes cast.
Former president Manuel Quezon received the second highest vote percentage of 67.9% in the 1935 polls.
Compared to these two figures, Marcos Jr. garnered just 58.7% with 31,629,783 of the 53,815,484 total votes cast in the 2022 polls, based on Congress’ vote canvass as of May 25.
Among other candidates in the May 9 balloting this year, second placer and former vice president Leni Robredo notched just 27.9% of all the votes, while former Sen. Manny Pacquiao, who finished third among the presidential bets, had 6.8% of the vote.
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Editor’s note: The infographic has been edited to reflect the correct year Ferdinand Marcos Sr. was elected
Sources
Presidential Communications Operations Office, Speech of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Romualdez Marcos Jr. during his Inauguration (transcript), June 30, 2022
Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office, Philippine Electoral Almanac Revised and Expanded (Archived file), 2015
Philippine Presidency Project, Results of the Past Presidential & Vice-Presidential Elections (archived webpage), accessed on July 1, 2022
Senate of the Philippines official website, Joint Public Session Resolution No. 1, May 30, 2016
Joint Session of Congress official website, National Canvassing 2022 results, 2022
(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology.)
