CEBU — President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday thanked Cebuanos for delivering votes for him and his running-mate, Vice President-elect Sara Duterte, in the May 9 national and local elections.

During his speech at the oath-taking ceremony of officials under the One Cebu local party, Marcos Jr. attributed his victory in the presidential race to the votes he got in the province.

Cebu flipped in Marcos Jr.'s favor in the May elections after he garnered over 1 million votes, the country's most vote-rich province. 

His closest rival, outgoing Vice President Leni Robredo, got only more than 391,000 votes. 

Robredo defeated Marcos Jr. in Cebu during the 2016 vice-presidential race.

“I am a beneficiary of good work. You are historic in many ways. It has never fallen to a Marcos to win this big before,” the President-elect said.

The last time a Marcos won in Cebu, he said, was in 1969, during the time of his father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

“The only reason any one can deliver a vote because voters trusted them and they know what they can bring to a community,” Marcos Jr. added.

But even with a landslide victory in the province, Marcos Jr. appealed to One Cebu officials for help as his administration comes into office.

"I need your help even more now. Marami pa tayong dapat gawin,” he said.

(We have a lot of work to do.)

“Sigaw ng pagkakaisa ay hindi pa natatapos. Pagkakaisa ang kinakailangan ngayon ng kababayan upang tayo ay makahatid ng kaunting ginhawa sa buhay," Marcos added.

(The call for unity is not done yet. We need unity now so that we can somehow alleviate our fellowmen's lives.)

One Cebu is headed by Governor Gwen Garcia, who endorsed Marcos and Duterte for the 2022 polls. Her daughter, incoming Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco, is also affiliated with the party.

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