BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. may have been a mile ahead of his opponents in the May 9 presidential race, but his closest rival, Vice President Leni Robredo won in Negros Occidental.
Based on the partial, unofficial results aggregated from the Comelec data as of May 10, with 99.8 percent of election returns, Robredo got 527,321 votes compared to 482,344 of Marcos in the province.
Marcos’ running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, prevailed over against vice presidential bet Francis Pangilinan, with 475, 854 votes. Pangilinan, the running mate of Robredo, got 376,288 votes.
Although Marcos’ wife, Louise Araneta-Marcos, traces her roots to Bago City, it was there where Robredo got 41,239 votes compared to 28,790 of Marcos. Pangilinan also garnered 26,635 votes, against 23,612 of Duterte-Carpio.
However, in San Carlos City, where Robredo supporter Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson resides, Marcos recorded a wide margin of votes against the vice president.
Marcos garnered 43,750 votes compared to 12,479 of Robredo, Comelec records show.
Likewise, Marcos also won in Bacolod City by more than 8,000 votes against Robredo, while Duterte led Pangilinan by more than 43,000 votes.
Duterte-Carpio had 120,394 votes against 76,095 of Pangilinan.
In La Carlota City, Marcos got 18,898 votes, against 14,428 of Robredo. Vice Gov. Jeffrey Ferrer, the campaign manager of Marcos in Negros Occidental, used to be the mayor there.
Robredo also won in Sagay City with 40,354 votes compared to 16,680 for Marcos.
In Cadiz City, Robredo garnered 36,817 votes compared to 22,497 votes for Marcos. Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. and outgoing Sagay City Mayor Alfredo Marañon III are supporters of Robredo.
Former Mayor Sonny Coscolluela, who serves as Marcos’ campaign spokesperson in Negros Occidental, told opponents to “graciously accept defeat.”
Coscolluela stressed that a victory of Marcos-Duterte in Negros Occidental is also a victory for the Negrenses pointing out Marcos’ wife Lisa Araneta is a native of Barangay Poblacion in Bago City.*
