Groups protest Marcos's supposed attempts to cast doubt on polls

MANILA, Philippines — Activist groups on Wednesday held a rally outside the House of Representatives to protest what they called an attempt by Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to discredit the May 9 elections.

"Narito kami upang iprotesta ang ginagawang panlilinlang ni Bongbong Marcos sa publiko ukol sa naganap na halalan. He is determined to discredit the process even when the quick count has been open and transparent to the public from the start," Akbayan Youth leader Rafaela David said.

The groups called on the public to be vigilant as canvassing begins in Congress.

"Tingnan po natin ang facts at huwag po tayo magpadala sa haka-haka lamang," David said.

Akbayan is allied with the Liberal Party, with Senator-Elect Rissa Hontiveros running in the administration ticket in the  the May elections.

Also at the protest were the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines and UP Bukluran System.

Ibalik and Bilyones ng mga Mamamayan movement, which filed a plunder complaint against Marcos in April over his alleged involvement in the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam, also had members at the rally.

Marcos has been raising doubts about the elections over a script change done on the Transparency server on the evening of May 9.

The script change, which tech provider Smartmatic has said was to make the "ñ" character display correctly, coincided with the decrease in Marcos's lead in the vice presidential race, his camp said.

Two professors came out shortly after to claim that the movement of election data on the transparency server after the change suggested cheating.

Their claims have since been debunked by more than 100 scientists and faculty members who work with data and statistics.

In a statement released Tuesday night, the scientists said the data did not prove cheating and was expected because voting data came in from all over the country.

The Parish Pastoral Council on Responsible Voting and the National Citizen's Movement for Free Elections have also said that the integrity of the election data is intact.

Referencing massive cheating in the 1986 snap elections that led to the People Power revolution, David said it is the Marcos family that has a history of cheating in elections.

"Sa mata nila, sila ang dapat panalo at lahat ay gagawin nila upang mangyar ito," she said.

A group of Marcos supporters held a separate rally outside the Batasan Pambansa Complex, where the House of Representatives is. — Video by Efigenio Toledo IV