President Duterte has lauded the swift completion of the 2022 elections but urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to investigate the hiccups of the recently concluded polls to disabuse the minds of those doubting its integrity.
Duterte made this statement following reports of glitches in the Comelec's vote-counting machines (VCMs), causing doubts about cheating or election fraud.
In his "Talk to the People," aired Thursday morning, May 12, the President hoped that the Comelec would get to the bottom of the issue.
"Yung may glitches o sabi nila mga sira na hindi nagbasa ng votes (There are reports of glitches or malfunctioning VCMs that didn't read votes), I hope the Comelec would also find time to investigate just to disabuse the minds of those na may dayaan (thinking there was cheating)," he said.
Duterte refused to believe that there was indeed cheating in the elections.
"Wala akong nakita sa totoo lang at hindi talaga ako papayag (I didn't see any of the sorts, and to tell you the truth, I would not have allowed it)," he said.
"Pero ganun pa man (Be that as it may), just to satisfy the doubts of the few, na imbestigahan, at yung result ibigay sa tao kung ano ang nangyari (just investigate it and tell the people what happened)," he added.
Despite this, the President said he was satisfied with the conduct of the elections.
"Madali yung counting (The counting was quick). The transmission of everything needed to complete the election process is almost over," he said.
"I think our generation is very lucky. We are in a situation where electronics ruled the day," he added.
President Duterte thanked those who made the peaceful election possible.
"It was a peaceful — generally peaceful. I thank and congratulate the Comelec, our teachers, the military, the police, and the civil society sector and of course the thousands of volunteers for all your — for all the work and handling, participation in the conduct of this year’s election," he said.
Duterte likewise expressed optimism about the newly elected officials.
"There’s a sense of hope and optimism that we have elected the set of leaders in the country, maybe, kung ano yung lumabas sa survey, yun rin talaga ang (I think those who emerged in the surveys are the ones elected)," he added.