Presidential bet and late dictator’s son Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and running mate Sara Duterte are not leading the election race since the official counting of votes hasn’t started, contrary to a wrong claim by a YouTube user.
In a May 9 video, Showbiz Fanaticz falsely said the Marcos-Duterte tandem gained a lead of over a million votes over their rivals Vice President Leni Robredo and Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan. It bore the headline: “JUST IN: BONGBONG MARCOS at SARA DUTERTE MILYON NA ang LAMANG Kina VP LENI at KIKO [PANGILINAN]!”
While individual precincts will will begin counting votes and transmitting results by 7 p.m. today, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioners, convening as the National Board of Canvassers, earlier today said they will not canvass and certify election returns until after they resume session on May 10 at 1 p.m.
The video also misused results of an exit poll survey conducted by JCI Manila and Acquisition Apps, Inc. (Tangere) to claim Marcos and Duterte as frontrunners in the presidential and vice-presidential races, respectively. It also said with no basis that the tandem already secured at least eight million votes. The video said at the 0:23 mark:
Kinumpirma ng Tangere at JCI Manila na si Bongbong Marcos at Sara Duterte ang kauna-unahang nanguna sa exit poll ngayong araw, May 9, 2022, election day. Sa hindi bababang 80% ng mga botanteng tinanong, tinatayang hindi bababa sa walong milyon agad ang nakuhang boto ng tambalang Marcos at Sara [Duterte]. (Tangere and JCI Manila confirmed that Marcos and Duterte are leading the exit polls conducted today, May 9, election day. With the 80% of target respondents surveyed, it is estimated there are eight million votes for the Marcos-Duterte alliance).
Tangere’s nationwide exit poll aimed to ask 2,400 respondents nationwide who they voted for president and vice president. As of 1:30 p.m., with 80% of the target sample reached, Tangere’s graphic showed 62.16% of the respondents voted for Marcos as president, while 67.21% said they voted for Duterte as vice president.
The post announcing the results, which has since been deleted, received at least 19,000 reactions and 9,600 shares before being taken down.
Although the exit poll showed the Marcos-Duterte tandem in the lead, its result does not automatically reflect the official results. Exit polls ask voters who they voted for after casting their ballot. In a 2000 Supreme Court ruling, the court acknowledged that results could determine “the probable result of an election,” but ruled that there is no prohibition to conducting such a specialized survey.
Exit polls are not always successful in predicting election winners. Such was the case in the 2004 United States presidential race when exit polls initially predicted Democrat John Kerry’s victory, but Republican George Bush eventually won with 286 electoral votes.
The video has garnered 6,385 views and 2,341 likes as of posting. A quick CrowdTangle search also showed the photo was reposted six times on Facebook with 1,258 total interactions. (JC)