Poe is unofficially the President of the Republic of the Philippines to a majority of Filipino voters. He ran for President in the 2004 Presidential elections but lost to Gloria Macapagal Arroyo via a slim margin of votes. However, it was later revealed that massive cheating was conducted in the ARMM and Mindanao region (remember the Hello Garci scandal?), particularly Maguindanao (a vote-rich territory), where he had very few votes. The same happened in Pangasinan province. Poe hailed from Pangasinan and was too popular in the Mindanao region to have had minimal votes. The NAMFREL quick-count showed a 34.3% vs. 56.5% in favor of Poe in the ARMM, but the final COMELEC canvass favored Arroyo with a 62% vs. 31% final tally. It was prima facie evidence of electoral cheating in the ARMM. As of present time, no action has been iniated by the PET or the SC to grant the presidency to the late actor posthumously.