Concluding his four-day trip to Cambodia for the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summit and Related Summits, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. spoke to the Filipino community there where he once again claimed to have obtained in last May’s elections the “biggest vote” in Philippine history.
This needs context.
STATEMENT
Facing the Filipino community in Phnom Penh on Nov. 13, Marcos expressed gratitude for their support and said:
“Pagkakataon na namin ito na magpasalamat ulit sa inyong lahat sa suportang ibinigay ninyo at hindi pangkaraniwan na suporta. Ito ang pinakamalaking boto na nakuha ng kahit sinong kandidato sa buong kasaysayan ng Pilipinas.”
(This is our chance to thank you all for the support you have given, and it’s not ordinary support. This is the biggest vote garnered by any candidate in Philippine history.)
Source: Radio Television Malacañang – RTVM, Meeting with the Filipino Community, Nov. 13, 2022, watch from 56:48 to 56:55
FACT
While Marcos did garner the highest number of votes in Philippine electoral history, his share of the votes (58.7%) in the May 2022 elections is only the country’s third highest vote percentage, next to former presidents Manuel L. Quezon (67.9%, 1935) and Ramon Magsaysay (68.9%, 1953).
VERA Files Fact Check previously debunked similar claims made by Marcos during his June 30 inaugural speech and by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada in a Sept. 20 press briefing.
(Read VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Marcos Jr’s ‘biggest electoral mandate’ statement needs context and VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Jinggoy Estrada’s remark that Marcos Jr. got ‘highest number of votes in PH history’ needs context)
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Sources
Radio Television Malacañang – RTVM, Meeting with the Filipino Community, Nov. 13, 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 Nov. 14, 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.)
