Vice President Leni Robredo said Tuesday she was looking into allegations of vote fraud on social media, as she scheduled thanksgiving events with volunteers of her presidential campaign.
Robredo earlier asked supporters to "listen to the people's voice" after an unofficial count of nearly 98% of votes showed her trailing former senator Bongbong Marcos.
"Mulat ako sa mga tanong na nananatiling nakalambitin sa sitwasyon. Sinisimulan na namin ang pagkausap sa mga eksperto upang maaral nang husto ang mga ulat at alegasyon na nababasa natin sa social media. Agad naming ibabahagi ang anumang resulta ng pag-aaral," she said in a statement.
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Another Marcos rival in Monday's polls, labor leader Leody de Guzman, questioned the consistent gap between Marcos and Robredo in the unofficial count and asked the Comelec to investigate.
Robredo also said she would attend a mass in Naga City at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to thank supporters in her hometown.
On May 13, she will thank volunteers in Metro Manila at a separate gathering.
Students stage protest
Around 400 people, mostly students, staged a protest outside the election commission on Tuesday against Marcos and citing election irregularities.
The Comelec, which said the poll was relatively peaceful, also upheld on Tuesday its dismissals of complaints filed by different groups, including victims of martial law, that had sought to disbar Marcos from the presidential race based on a 1995 tax evasion conviction.
One of the petitioners, Akbayan, a leftist group, said it will appeal the decision at the Supreme Court, describing it as "both a colossal and institutional failure."
A big win for Marcos was securing President Rodrigo Duterte's daughter, Sara Duterte-Carpio, as his vice-presidential running mate. She won more than three times the number of votes compared with her nearest rival and also likely broadened the Marcos appeal in many areas.
Human rights group Karapatan called on Filipinos to reject the new Marcos presidency, which it said was built on lies and disinformation "to deodorize the Marcoses' detestable image".
Marcos, who shied away from debates and interviews during the campaign, recently praised his father as a genius and a statesman but has also been irked by questions about the martial law era.
As the vote count showed the extent of the Marcos win, Robredo told her supporters to continue their fight for truth until the next election.
"It took time to build the structures of lies. We have time and opportunity to fight and dismantle these," she said.
Marcos gave few clues on the campaign trail of what his policy agenda would look like, but is widely expected to closely follow outgoing President Duterte, who targeted big infrastructure works, close ties with China and strong growth. Duterte's tough leadership style won him big support.
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