Presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos's controversial defeat in the 2016 vice presidential race has made him more wary of possible cheating in next month's polls.
In an SMNI network interview directly after the UniTeam grand rally along IBP road in Quezon City Wednesday night, April 13, Marcos was asked to comment on reports of irregularities in the ongoing absentee voting in places like Dubai, Taiwan, and Singapore.
In particular, the survey frontrunner was told that some shaded ballots reflected different candidates from those that were chosen by the voters when the ballots were fed to the machines.
"Tama, mayroon nanaman mga nangyayaring ganun kaya pinapatignan namin. Nagtatanong kami sa Comelec (Commission on Elections) na sana tiyakin nila na lahat ng boto at mabilang nang tama (Correct, something like that is happening again. That's why we asked Comelec if they could ensure that all votes would be counted correctly)," said the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) standard-bearer.
"Hindi ko alam, mukha namang mga mistake-mistake lang. Huwag naman sana tayo makakita na pattern na mayroon talagang nagbabago na mga numero (I don't know, maybe it's an honest mistake. But I hope we don't see a pattern wherein the numbers are changing)," he added.
But as the interview went on, Marcos recalled his experience during the 2016 elections and cited it as a reason why he is wary of possible irregularities.
"Kailangan talaga natin mayroon nakabantay. Kami naman sa UniTeam, sa mgs partido namin, mayroon kaming hinahanda na ganun kaya naman nakikita yung mga nagiging problema. Wala talagang ibang gagawin kung hindi magbantay kahit sa May 9 (We need someone to watch over the votes. As for UniTeam and the parties involved, we are readying such group that why we can see those problems. This group will do nothing but watch over the votes even on May 9)," he said.
"Siguro yung mensahe na lalabas, magbantay talaga, magbantay. Kasi maaari naman eh...syempre nabiktima na ako noong 2016 kaya medyo maingat na maingat ako dyan (I think the message that will come out is, there is really a need for vigilance. Because it's possible...I was already victimized in 2016 that's why I'm very careful regarding that)," said Marcos.
"Kahit na yung honest mistake, kailangan pa ring ayusin. Kaya lahat yan ay talagang tutukan natin para hindi na magkamali (Even if it's an honest mistake, we need to fix it. That's why we should look at all of those in order to prevent mistakes)," he further said.
During the 2016 vice presidential race, Marcos led for most of the counting process only to be overtaken by then-Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo as the election returns dwindled. Robredo ended up beating Marcos by less than 264,000 votes.
Robredo, now the opposition standard-bearer, is believed to be Marcos's closest rival in the Palace tiff. However, the incumbent Vice President is a far second based on recent popularity polls.
Marcos's running mate and fellow UniTeam member, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte recently commented on the alleged irregularities in the overseas absentee voting.