By Neah Mangawang
for Eagle News Service

(Eagle News) — Presidential frontrunner Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. addressed the nation shortly after 11:00pm on Monday, May 9, via his Facebook page, expressing his sincere gratitude to his supporters and the Filipino people who believed in him, his running-mate Sara Duterte, and their message of unity.

Marcos, Jr. acknowledged that while the counting of votes was not yet over, he already wants to express his gratitude to the Filipinos who supported him and voted for him.

“I know the count is not yet done, it’s not yet done, kailangan pa rin tayong magbantay but I wanted to issue a short statement and it is essentially a statement of gratitude to all of those who have been with us in this long and sometimes difficult journey for the last six months,” he said.

“I want to thank you for all that you have done for us,” he said.

Marcos Jr., or BBM, as he is fondly called, recognized the thousands of “volunteers, parallel groups, political leaders” who “cast their lot with us” because of “their belief in our message of unity, because of their belief in the candidates, sa tambalang Marcos at Duterte (in the Marcos-Duterte tandem)”

“Kaya’t eh napakalaki ng pasasalamat namin sa inyong lahat. Kahit hindi pa tapos nga ang pagbibilang, hindi makapag antay ang aking pasasalamat sa inyong lahat, ang aking pasasalamat sa lahat ng tumulong, sa lahat ng sumapi sa aming ipinaglaban sa inyong sakripisyo, sa inyong trabaho at sa binigay ninyo inyo sa amin na oras,na kakayahan, na sipag,” Marcos said.

“Ang ganitong klase ng paggagawa, any endeavor as large as this does not involve one person. It involves very, very many people working in very, very many different ways. And to all of them I thank you”.

-Unity theme and the belief in a better PHL-

Marcos, Jr., likewise thanked those who supported not just him, his running-mate Mayor Inday Sara Duterte, his party and the whole UniTeam, but more importantly, the idea of a better Philippines.

“Magpapasalamat ako sa mga kababayan ko na nandiyan sila at nagsuporta sila hindi lamang sa mga kandidato, hindi lamang sa aming Partido, kung hindi sa magandang bukas ng ating minamahal na Pilipinas at ‘yan sa akin ang pinakamahalaga na aking makukuha dito sa kampanyang ito kaya’t ako’y nagpapasalamat sa inyong lahat”.

While many of his supporters are already claiming victory, Marcos, Jr. urged them to remain vigilant and keep watch during the vote count.

He then asked for the people’s continuing support should he be elected president.

“Kung tayo’y palarin ay aasahan ko na yung inyong tulong ay hindi magsawa, ang inyong tiwala ay hindi magsawa at dahil marami po tayong gagawin dito sa ating hinaharap. Maraming maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat”.

As of 12:17 a.m., Marcos, Jr. already had 27,052,601 votes, which is more than twice the votes garnered by his main rival, Vice-President Leni Robredo, who only got 12,913,773 votes.

In case of victory, Marcos Jr., the son of the late president Ferdinand Marcos, would be the 17th president of the Philippines.

(Eagle News Service)