MANILA – Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte on Thursday appealed for national unity following the “highly polarized” May 9 polls.

He also called on Filipinos to rally behind presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. who is the “clear choice” of a majority of the voters.

“All of us have more reason to support the next Philippine leader, given that he is apparently the first contender in a post-EDSA presidential contest who has won by a clear majority of those who had actually voted. In contrast, all past post-EDSA Presidents only won by a plurality of the votes cast,” Villafuerte said in a statement.

Villafuerte expressed confidence that Marcos would “genuinely pursue” a political and economic agenda that would restore the country back to the “path of high and inclusive growth after it stumbled across speed bumps” over the past two years as a result of the once-in-a-century pandemic and ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

“I believe BBM’s heart is in the right place, and that he would hit the ground running in pursuing such a pro-poor, pro-growth agenda by seeking national consensus behind programs and projects that would accelerate poverty reduction and build on the initiatives of the incumbent administration in further liberalizing our economy to attract more FDIs (foreign direct investments) and create more—and quality—jobs,” Villafuerte said.

He also urged the incoming batch of lawmakers for the incoming 19th Congress to work with Marcos in crafting laws that would support the next administration’s agenda to improve the people’s living standards and sustain the domestic economy’s high growth trajectory.

He, meanwhile, lauded the Commission on Elections for the speedy transmittal of voting results of the May 9 polls that has “buttressed the credibility of a presidential elections” that will make Marcos the “first-ever, post-EDSA candidate” who has won by a clear majority of Filipinos who had cast their votes.

“While there were isolated cases of poll day hitches, the conduct of this year’s national and local elections was generally faster and more efficient than in past computerized polls, leading to a highly credible balloting that has settled without doubt the victory of a presidential candidate who a majority of Filipino voters want to lead our country back to its path of high and inclusive growth, following the double whammy of the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Villafuerte said.

Marcos has secured double the votes of his closes rival Vice President Leni Robredo in the May 9 elections.

According to the Commission on Elections’ transparency server, Marcos garnered 31.1 million while Robredo got 14.8 million votes based on the 98.35 percent of election returns processed as of May 12. (PNA)