FIFTY-FOUR percent of Cebuanos who turned out to vote picked former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to be president, while 63 percent picked Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio to be vice president of the Philippines during the May 9, 2022 national and local elections.Of Cebu’s 3,288,778 registered voters (including those from the highly urbanized cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu), 2,852,848 or 86.7 percent turned out for the vote last Monday.Those who voted gave Marcos 1,535,628 votes and Duterte-Carpio 1,795,069 votes.Data from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Cebu Provincial Office showed that the vote-rich Cebu Province (excluding Cebu and Lapu-Lapu cities), delivered 1,055,985 votes for Marcos and 1,258,538 votes for Duterte-Carpio.Cebu Province has 2,310,339 registered voters. Only 87.48 percent or 2,021,310 residents from the 51 municipalities and cities voted last Monday.Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo, who clinched more than 817,000 votes during the 2016 elections, secured only 391,080 votes this time in Cebu Province.Robredo defeated Marcos in the vice presidential race in 2016, as the latter garnered only about 310,000 votes in the province.Sen. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao got 371,183 votes in Cebu Province, followed by Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, 52,504 votes; Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, 24,270 votes.Ernie Abella ranked fifth with 3,875 votes, followed by Leody de Guzman with 3,559; Norberto Gonzales, 3,315; Jose Montemayor Jr., 2,750 votes; and Faisal Mangondato, 1,347 votes.In the vice presidential race, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III ranked second in the province as he secured 247,093 votes, followed by Sen. Francisco “Kiko” Pangilinan with 235,010 votes; Dr. Willie Ong, 38,284; Lito Atienza, 22,124; Manny SD Lopez, 7,434; Rizalito David, 5,987; Carlos Serapio, 3,695; and Walden Bello, 3,439 votes.In the senatorial race, media personality Raffy Tulfo ranked first in Cebu Province with 927,594 votes or 6.37 percent of Cebuanos’ votes in the race.He was followed by actor Robin Padilla, who got 924,326 votes; former senator Alan Peter Cayetano, 796,381 votes; Loren Legarda, 788,916 votes; Migz Zubiri, 732,101 votes; Win Gatchalian, 727,303 votes; Mark Villar, 685,193 votes; Chiz Escudero, 665,065 votes; Gibo Teodoro, 584,139 votes; Risa Hontiveros, 579,148 votes; Joel Villanueva, 563,966 votes; and Jinggoy Estrada, 490,584 votes.Gwen for MarcosReelected Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said the number of votes that the Marcos-Duterte tandem secured in the province is a “fulfilment of a commitment,” noting that she committed to do her best to deliver Cebu to the UniTeam since she believed in their message of unity.UniTeam is the electoral alliance formed to support the candidacies for president and vice president of Marcos and Duterte-Carpio in the 2022 elections.The governor said there was no bargain set out for their support for the tandem, adding that it is merely a fulfillment of a promise and a commitment that she gave.“It was all about my deciding on which candidate embraced the same values that One Cebu embraced and that is the value of unity,“ she said, adding that One Cebu was born out of the wish of three congressmen that wanted to divide Cebu into four provinces.She said One Cebu is all about unity, which is what she tried to practice and espouse when she came back as governor in 2019 and when the party again made its resurgence.“Unity is what is needed right now. We had enough of too much polarization, fighting and bickering. What does it achieve? Wala (Nothing). … Does it put food on the table? Does it help educate our children? Does it even just give hope to people who are actually just living on a hand-to-mouth existence?“ she said with a bit of a swipe at the other candidates.Garcia also stressed that the only way to achieve positive change is when they get their act together, which she said is the message of Marcos and the UniTeam.One factor she cited for the high turnout of votes for Marcos was the latter’s commitment that he would continue the programs of President Rodrigo Duterte.RedemptionShe also said it was time for redemption for the Marcos family and that it is probably why many Filipinos have chosen him for president.Garcia said they understand what it is like to be unfairly persecuted and to be subject to such elitism.“My family never suffered under Martial Law, but we certainly suffered miserably under Pnoy (the late President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III) and all of those cases that they filed against me. Ang lahat na mga paratang na ipinalabas na mga Garcias ay mga kawatan eh kung anu-ano pa (All the accusations that would make it appear that the Garcias were thieves and what else),“ she said, stressing that all those cases were dismissed.With his margin of more than 16 million votes nationwide, Garcia congratulated Marcos, saying, “There are 31 million of us who are not really so bobo (stupid) after all and who believe that there is hope for this country.“Cebu CityThe Marcos-Duterte tandem also won majority of the votes in Cebu and Lapu-Lapu cities.Comelec data showed that 614,453 of the 733,044 registered voters in Cebu City cast their votes last May 9.This voter turnout of 83.82 percent is higher than the 76.10 percent turnout in the 2019 midterms elections.Among the 10 presidential aspirants, Marcos Jr. ranked first, garnering 344,876, or 57.87 percent of the votes cast.He was followed by Vice President Robredo with 160,890 or 27 percent of the votes and Sen. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao with 50,145 votes or 8.41 percent.Marcos Jr.’s running mate also ranked first among the nine vice presidential candidates.Duterte-Carpio received 382,498 or 64.80 percent of the total votes canvassed by Comelec.Sotto claimed the second spot with 100,883 votes or 17.09 percent, while Pangilinan settled for the third place with 84,248 votes or 14.28 percent.The Marcos-Duterte tandem was endorsed by Mayor Michael Rama’s Partido Barug-PDP Laban, which also won big in the local polls.Rama will enjoy a fresh term after receiving 239,656 votes or 40.85 percent of the votes.Margot Osmeña, the mayoral candidate of Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK), received only 202,446 votes or 34.50 percent, while councilor David Tumulak received 141,225 votes or 24.07 percent of the total votes cast.Rama’s running mate, Councilor Raymond Garcia, also won as the city’s new vice mayor after he garnered 283,235 or 52.21 percent of the votes cast.Lapu-Lapu CityIn the partial and unofficial vote tally in Lapu-Lapu City, as of this writing, Marcos garnered 134,767 votes, while his closest rival, Robredo, got 34,589 votes in the presidential race.Duterte-Carpio led the vice presidential race with 154,033 votes against the 17,372 votes of Pangilinan.In the senatorial race, the Oponganons’ top pick was actor Robin Padilla, 112,808 votes; followed by broadcaster Raffy Tulfo (104,312 votes); and House Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda (100,441).Included in the Magic 12 were Win Gatchalian (93,318), Migz Zubiri (87,890), Mark Villar (83,221), Alan Peter Cayetano (82,616), Chiz Escudero (72,387), Joel Villanueva (71,727), Gibo Teodoro (70,320), Harry Roque (70,263) and Risa Hontiveros (65,100).Lapu-Lapu City has 245,395 registered voters and 217,085 voters or 88.46 percent cast their votes on election day, according to data from the Commission on Elections in Lapu-Lapu City.The Marcos-Duterte tandem was endorsed by reelectionist Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan and the rest of Team Ahong, Team Libre that achieved a landslide victory in the same elections in the city.Team Ahong, Team Libre is a member of PDP-Laban that earlier endorsed Marcos Jr. and Duterte-Carpio.Chan and his vice mayor Celedonio “Celsi” Sitoy won reelection. Lapu-Lapu First Lady Cindi King-Chan was elected district representative, while Team Libre’s bet for city councilor got all the seats in the Sangguniang Panlungsod. (MKG, IRT, EHP)