Image by Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago via Facebook - Feisty senator backed running mate amid his contest with Leni Robredo
- She called the gov’t “authoritatrian”, accused it of “manufacturing numbers”
- She also wondered why a survey frontrunner like Marcos could suddenly lag behind on election day
MANILA, Philippines – With her presidential run virtually over, Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago nevertheless backed up her running mate Sen. Bongbong Marcos amid his contest with Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo in the nail-bitingly frantic vice presidential race.
In a press release on Wednesday, May 11, the feisty senator raised her eyebrows at Marcos’ reversal of fortune in the race and accused the present administration of manipulating the numbers in favor of Robredo.
“The roller coaster ride of vice-presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. invites comparison with a garrison state. In such a state, the authoritarian government feels free to manufacture numbers as they are needed,” the Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted her as saying.
According to Santiago, she found it incredible that Marcos — a survey frontrunner in the months leading up to the polls — would fall behind the administration candidate.
“I find it astounding that Marcos should have led in the vice-presidential surveys for many months, until the penultimate month, when suddenly the administration could jump up survey results to finally overtake him,” she said; adding that such an anomaly would “cause the peoples of the democratic world to shake their heads and question the values of the society it produced.”
Marcos, who is lagging behind Robredo by more than 200,000 votes after initially leading by over a million in the unofficial count, has accused the administration of vote-shaving as part of a conspiracy to unseat incoming president Rodrigo Duterte in the coming months.
Robredo, on the other hand, has denied the existence of such a plan and dared Marcos to come up with solid proof.
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