More than 200 individuals and members of multisectoral groups marched along downtown Cebu City on Friday, May 13, in a nationally-coordinated “Black Friday Protest” to oppose the Marcos-Duterte alliance following the unofficial and partial results of the May 9 elections.

The groups began their march at Plaza Independencia and held a short program at the office of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Region 7, where students and youth decried the commission’s inability to take accountability for the anomalies and irregularities of the polls.

According to COMELEC data, at least 1,800 vote-counting machines (VCMs) malfunctioned over the course of the elections, which is twice the number of the VCMs that malfunctioned in 2016 and 2019. The elections were also marred by cases of red-tagging, disinformation, and election-related violence, according to anti-fraud group Kontra Tikas Movement.

Kontra Tikas verified and recorded elections-related reports in Cebu, including malfunctioning VCMs, delayed voting, intimidation, threats, and shootings.

A barangay tanod of Barangay Lorega had been shot outside of the Zapatera Elementary School minutes before the polls closed on Monday.

The groups brought the protest march to the historic Colon St. where multisectoral organizations joined in the condemnation of the conduct of the elections, which was described as “not honest nor clean.”

Victor Lapaz of Anakpawis-Cebu emphasized that a day before the elections, disinformation that Makabayan bloc party-lists were disqualified had begun circulating online. “Usa ba kini ka limpyo nga eleksyon?” Lapaz decried.
(Is this really a clean elections?)

The document in question had imitated an official COMELEC memorandum, which was disowned by the COMELEC.

The groups ended the almost-four-kilometer march with a short program at the Cebu Provincial Capitol.

The progressive groups registered their opposition to the Marcos-Duterte alliance by lighting candles and torches and praying over the country “to dispel the darkness,” led by church leaders present at the mobilization.

To end the protest march, the groups sang “Di Niyo Ba Naririnig,” a Tagalized version of the song “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from the musical Les Miserables, and the anti-Marcos anthem “Bayan Ko.” They also lit candles around a prop coffin bearing the words “DEMOKRASYA,” symbolizing mourning for the “death of democracy.”