In his inaugural speech, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. said that his electoral victory was the biggest electoral mandate in the history of Philippine democracy. This claim needs context.
CLAIM: Bongbong Marcos’s win is the biggest electoral mandate in the history of Philippine democracy.
RATING: MISSING CONTEXT
In his inaugural address, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. said:
That is why it reverberated and amplified as it did, to deliver the biggest electoral mandate in the history of Philippine democracy.
This claim needs better context.
Marcos Jr. won the presidency in the 2022 presidential election by getting 31,629,783 votes or 58.77% of total votes cast.
This is indeed the biggest number of votes cast in favor of a winning presidential candidate in the electoral history of the Philippines.
However, Marcos, Jr. did not get the biggest share of the votes, percentage-wise, in a Philippine presidential election.
That distinction belongs to the late dictator, kleptocrat and namesake of the current president, Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.
According to the Philippine Almanac of Electoral History, published in 2013 by the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office and the book “Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook”, Vol. 2 South East Asia, East Asia and the South Pacific, edited by Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz and Christof Hartmann, published in 2001 by the Oxford University Press, Marcos Sr., the standard bearer of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL), won the 1981 elections, garnering 18,309,360 votes or 88 percent of the total votes cast. The runner-up, Alejo S. Santos of the Nacionalista Party – Roy Wing got only 1,716,449 or 8.3 percent of the total votes cast.
This is considered the most lopsided election in the history of the country. However, the opposition did not participate in the election deeming the exercise a sham.
The second biggest electoral victory in the country was set by President Manuel L. Quezon when he won the 1941 election over Juan Sumulong Sr. Quezon, the standard bearer of the Nacionalista Party, got 1,340,320 votes or 81.78 percent of the total votes cast. Sumulong, the standard bearer of the Partido Democrata Nacionalista, got 298,608 votes or 18.22 percent.
Below are the statistics of past presidential elections in the country with the winning candidates’ names in bold. Aside from the books mentioned above, figures cited came from the Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines and other relevant websites.
Candidate |
Total votes won |
Percentage |
Rodrigo Duterte (PDP-Laban) |
16,601,997 |
39.01% |
Mar Roxas (LP) |
9,978,175 |
23.45% |
Benigno Aquino III (LP) |
15,208,678 |
42.08% |
Joseph Estrada (PMP) |
9,487,837 |
26.25% |
Gloria Arroyo (LAKAS-NUCD) |
12,905,808 |
40% |
Fernando Poe, Jr. (KNP) |
11,782,232 |
36.51% |
Joseph Estrada (LAMMP) |
10,722,295 |
39.86% |
Jose de Venecia, Jr. (LAKAS-NUCD) |
4,268,483 |
15.87% |
Fidel Ramos (LAKAS-NUCD) |
5,342,521 |
23.58% |
Miriam Santiago (PRP) |
4,468,173 |
19.72% |
1986 Election * |
||
Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. (KBL) |
11,021,336 (Comelec) 10,062,802 |
53.20% (Comelec) (Namfrel) |
Corazon Aquino (UNIDO) |
9,957,400 (Comelec) 10,670,962 |
48.06% (Comelec) 51.51%(Namfrel) |
Ferdinand Marcos (KBL) |
18,309,360 |
88.02% |
Alejo Santos (NP-Roy) |
1,716,449 |
8.3% |
Ferdinand Marcos (NP) |
5,017,343 |
62.2% |
Sergio Osmena, Jr. (LP) |
3,043,122 |
37.8% |
Ferdinand Marcos (NP) |
3,861,324 |
51.9% |
Diosdado Macapagal (LP) |
3,187,752 |
42.9% |
1961 Election |
||
Diosdado Macapagal (LP) |
3,554,840 |
55.0% |
Carlos Garcia (NP) |
2,902,966 |
45.0% |
1957 Election |
||
Carlos Garcia (NP) |
2,072,257 |
41.3% |
Jose Yulo (LP) |
1,386,829 |
27.6% |
1953 Election |
||
Ramon Magsaysay (NP) |
2,912,992 |
68.9% |
Elpidio Quirino (LP) |
1,313,991 |
31.1% |
1949 Election |
||
Elpidio Quirino (LP) |
1,803,808 |
50.9% |
Jose Laurel, Sr (NP) |
1,318,320 |
37.2% |
1946 Election |
||
Manuel Roxas (LP) |
1,333,006 |
53.9% |
Sergio Osmeña (NP) |
1,129,994 |
45.7% |
1941 Election |
||
Manuel Quezon (NP) |
1,340,000 |
81.8% |
Juan Sumulong (PDN) |
298,000 |
18.2% |
1935 Election |
||
Manuel Quezon (NP) |
694,546 |
68.0% |
Emilio Aguinaldo (NSP) |
179,402 |
17.5% |
— Rommel F. Lopez
* Numbers and percentages of the 1986 Elections are projections since the official tally as declared by the Comelec during the official canvassing at the Batasan was disputed. Figures cited in were from Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook
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