Sara Duterte cries poll fraud, claims 3 more PDP Senate bets ‘won’
Vice President Sara Duterte claimed there was fraud in the 2025 senatorial elections and that three more Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) bets “actually won.” FILE Photo by Arnel Tacson, INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte claimed there was fraud in the 2025 senatorial elections and that three more Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) bets “won.”
Duterte said this at an Independence Day event with Filipinos in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where former PDP senatorial candidates Jayvee Hinlo, Jimmy Bondoc, and Richard Mata joined her.
“Tapos na naman ang kampanya. Totoo yun. Pero bakit nandito si Attorney Hinlo, si Attorney Bondoc, si Doctor Mata? Kasi para sa akin at alam kong totoo, nanalo sila sa eleksyon nung nakaraan,” Duterte said in her remarks.
(The campaign is over. That’s true. But why are Attorney Hinlo, Attorney Bondoc, Dr. Mata here? Because, for me and I know this to be true, they won the last elections.)
“Kausap ko IT (information technology) experts na nagsasabi hindi talaga pwede na totoo yung mga numero na lumabas,” the vice president added.
(I spoke to IT experts who said it was impossible that the numbers that came out are true.)
Her evidence? Duterte cited that PDP bets – including Hinlo, Bondoc, and Mata – performed well in the local absentee and overseas voting, saying that it would have also been reflected in the overall results.
“Karanasan ko nung 2022, una kong nalaman na baka manalo ako bilang vice president dahil unang lumabas ang absentee voting, ang OFW (oversea Filipino workers) vote, nakita ko doon ang panalo. Ganoon ang nangyari sa kanila. Panalo sila sa OFW vote, sa absentee voting,” Duterte said.
(In my experience in 2022, I knew I had a chance to win as vice president because I saw I won in the absentee voting, the OFW vote. That’s what also happened to them. They won in the OFW vote, absentee voting.)
“Hindi ako IT expert, kaya sinabihan ko ang PDP. Sabi ko, kayo ang partido, kwestyunin niyo kung paano ginawa ang proseso ng bilangan,” the vice president detailed.
(I’m not an IT expert, that’s why I told PDP. I told them, they’re the party, they should question how the counting process was done.)
Apart from these statements, Duterte did not immediately provide proof of her claim.
Poll watchdog National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) previously said the 2025 elections had “enough safeguards to the system.”
READ: Namfrel: 2025 polls ‘orderly but marred by disruptions’
When asked for comment, in a message to reporters, Commission on Elections Chairperson George Garcia declined to comment, instead saying: “An expression of opinion by anyone in a democracy is free and therefore should be highly respected.”
READ: 7 out of ‘DuterTEN’ want manual recount, ‘anomalies’ investigated
In the days after the May 12 polls, the seven PDP-Laban who lost their Senate bids demanded a manual recount of votes and an investigation into alleged anomalies in the 2025 elections.
In response, the Comelec said the only way to trigger a manual recount of votes is to launch an electoral protest.
The three PDP-Laban bets who won were Senators-elect Christopher “Bong” Go, Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, and Rodante Marcoleta, who placed first, third, and sixth, respectively. /coa /das
