MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. encountered a minor technical issue while casting his vote for the 2025 midterm elections on Monday in Batac, Ilocos Norte.
Marcos, one of the first voters at the Mariano Marcos Memorial Elementary School, took only a few minutes to complete his voting but faced an error after his ballot jammed inside the machine.
This necessitated the Chief Executive to repeat the ballot feeding process, with assistance from members of the electoral board. His second attempt to insert the ballot was successful.
President Marcos arrived at his polling station shortly after 7 a.m. accompanied by his mother, former First Lady Imelda Marcos, and his sister, Irene Marcos-Araneta, who also cast their votes at the same location.
Prior to entering the polling area, the President displayed to the media a list of candidates he intended to vote for, which consisted solely of local candidates.
Although the Chief Executive did not provide any interviews following his vote, he had previously issued a statement encouraging the public to exercise their voting rights and select candidates capable of serving the nation.
“Ngayong halalan, gamitin natin ang ating karapatan at gampanan ang ating pananagutan bilang mamamayang Pilipino,” President Marcos said in a video posted on his social media page.
“Isang pagkakataon ito para marinig ang boses ng bawat isa at maipahayag ang mga pangarap na mahalaga sa inyo at sa bayan,” he added. “Kaya bumoto po tayo. Piliin ang tapat, may malasakit, at may kakayahang magsilbi.”
The 67-year-old President was among those participated in the early voting for senior citizens and their assistors, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and pregnant women that started at 5 a.m.
The Commission on Elections previously said the early voting hours for these groups would allow them to skip the long queues and avoid the hot weather./PN
