Marcos: I have won the VP race!

Photo screengrab from  CNN recorded TV broadcast

Metro Manila  — Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. claims victory in the vice presidential race, saying he has won over Liberal Party (LP) bet Leni Robredo. He also asserts to have won the overseas absentee voting (OAV), with a lead of about 86,000 votes over Robredo.

He is hoping the results would also be the same in other areas where votes are yet to be transmitted, including in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

In an exclusive interview with CNN Philippines on Sunday (May 15), Marcos gave an emphatic statement when asked if he is still optimistic that he will win the tight race; Marcos said "I have won."
On the OFW votes, Marcos said he expected victory. He received 176,669 votes as against Robredo’s 89,935.

More than 432,000 OFWs voted from April 9 to May 9, a 31 percent turnout that surpassed the 2010 OAV turnout of 26 percent and 2013 turnout of 16 percent.   
"Alam naman, that was expected already. It is already expected so sana maging maayos na rin para sa lahat ng ibang lugar, hindi lamang sa overseas," said Marcos.

[Translation: We knew that for sure, that was expected already. It is already expected so I hope it will work out well in other areas, not just overseas.]

The Marcos camp earlier alleged irregularities in altering the script in the Comelec’s transparency server that they claimed cast doubt on the integrity of election results.

However, the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), and even Marcos's lawyer and former Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. had admitted there was no cheating in the counting of votes.

At 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, Marcos attended a mass organized by his supporters at the Baclaran Church in Parañaque City.
Hundreds of Marcos loyalists in red shirt eagerly awaited  him for an hour. Even the elderly did not mind waiting under the sweltering heat of the sun.

As soon as Marcos and his family arrived at the Church premises, his supporters mobbed him, some taking pictures and others hugging him. Inside the church, they continued to get near him and repeatedly shouted his initials BBM.

During the mass, his supporters prayed for the integrity of the vote counting process.

Marcos was accompanied by his mother former First Lady Imelda Marcos, his eldest son Sandro, and senatorial candidate Martin Romualdez. ( CTO: CNN Philippines)