THE camp of presidential aspirant Rodrigo Duterte and vice presidential bet Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday called on the public to be vigilant against any form of cheating on Monday, election day.
Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, Duterte’s running mate, said they had received reports of unusual movement or mobilization that could possibly lead to attempts to rig the election results—especially in the vote-rich provinces.
“One target is Cebu. We know that there were police officers who implemented the orders of General Generoso Garbo to harass the Garcias in the 2013 elections,” Cayetano said.
“We have received word that the the same police officers are now being positioned to do more damage in the 2016 elections against the 1 Cebu candidates.”
Cayetano made his statement even as political analyst Prospero De Vera on Thursday questioned two Pulse Asia surveys that were conducted only two days apart but showed two different results.
De Vera was referring to the survey conducted from April 26 to April 29 that showed ruling Liberal Party candidate Manuel Roxas II gaining two points to overtake Senator Grace Poe for second place, while in the vice presidential race Roxas’ running mate, Leni Robredo, jumped four points to overtake perennial front runner Senator Ferdinand Marcos with 30 points. Marcos dropped three points behind with 28 percent.
The previous Pulse Asia survey was conducted just two days earlier from April 19 to 24.
De Vera said he could not help but be suspicious of the results.
He made his statement even as Marcos blasted the Aquino administration for the “trending survey” that he said gave false numbers. He insisted it was the administration’s first step to cheat in the May 9 elections to favor its candidates. Joel E. Zurbano and Macon Ramos-Araneta
Marcos said only the current administration could do any cheating.
Cayetano, meanwhile, identified the police officers as Supt. George Ylanan, Supt. Clifford Gairanod, Supt. Rex Direlo, Supt. Marvin Sanchez and Supt. Rodolfo Albutra.
“We ask authorities to just do their job of ensuring that the voting and the counting would be peaceful and reflect the true sentiment of the people,” Cayetano said.
“At the same time, I ask our people to go out and vote on May 9 and be vigilant. Let’s start change from the voting itself.”
Marcos said the voters and election watchers could go to his campaign headquarters in Mandaluyong City if they encountered problems before, during and after the conduct of the elections on Monday.
He also urged the opposing political camps to join him in ensuring a clean, honest and credible election.
Marcos’ camp earlier was alarmed by the alleged discrepancies in the votes cast in the ballots as against the results indicated in the printed receipt during the Overseas Absentee Voting, with reports coming in from Hong Kong, Japan, Dubai and California.
Marcos said it seemed only he and his cousin, Senatorial candidate Martin Romualdez, were losing votes in the OAV.
He said his legal team was collating these reports and helping complaining migrant Filipino workers to prepare their affidavits to file a formal complaint before the Commission on Elections.
His camp was also alarmed over the latest survey showing the ruling Liberal Party candidates Roxas and Robredo were leading in the presidential and vice presidential race.