DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/10 May) – After Senator Grace Poe, two other opponents of presidential front runner Rodrigo Duterte have also conceded on Tuesday.
In a press conference in Quezon City that started at 12:03 .a.m. on May 10, Poe read a statement in Filipino, conceding the race to the lone Mindanawon candidate.
We have a clear leader in the election and it’s pretty obvious he has a wide margin,” said Poe, who earlier phoned Duterte to congratulate him.
“It has always been my advocacy to respect the will of the people when it comes to elections,” said Poe, adding, “the voice of the people should be supreme.”
She vowed to help in the healing process post-election and to work together for the country’s progress.
Based on partial unofficial results via the Comelec-GMA7 Mirror Server, as of 12:12:35 a.m. on May 10, with 81.18% precincts reporting, Duterte garnered 13,720,721 or 38.6% votes, followed by administration bet Mar Roxas’ 7,758,088 votes (22.8%), Poe’s 7,758,088 (21.8%), Vice President Jejomar Binay’s 4,634,123 (13.%), and Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s 1,2984,256 (3.6%).
Binay has also issued a two-paragraph statement that he has “repeatedly called for respecting institutions and the democratic process. Once the process is completed, we should always respect the outcome.”
“We should all move towards healing and unity for our divided land,” he said.
Duterte lost no time reaching out to his rivals as soon as the polls closed on Monday.
After casting his vote, Duterte, in a press conference at the Royal Mandaya Hotel Davao, said he would like to reach out to his opponents so the “healing process” could start.
“Let’s begin to forget about the travails of the elections,” he said. “When I offer (peace), that’s without exemption but if they don’t accept my goodwill, fine. I always believe in the deep abiding faith in God.”
Roxas appeared on TV at noon Tuesday to concede and congratulate Duterte and wish him success.
Speaking in a press conference at his campaign headquarters in Quezon City, Roxas told supporters “we fought the good fight.
“Digong [Duterte], I wish you success. Ang iyong tagumpay ay tagumpay ng ating sambayanan at ng ating bansa,” he said.
”For our country, we’ve had a peaceful, successful transfer of power. It is not about me. It is not about anyone. It is about how we love our country, and how we all do all that we can for her. She’s the only one,” he emphasized.
As of 4:29p.m. Tuesday, Duterte maintained his wide lead with 15,520,595 votes, while Roxas had 9,386,781,431 votes. Poe had 8,693,863 votes, according to the Comelec transparency server.
The count represented 76.91% of registered voters and 91% of clustered precincts all over the country.
But Roxas said the administration bet for vice president Leni Robredo was still slugging it out with closest rival Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Robredo had 13,605,015 votes while Marcos had 13,394,086 votes as of 4:29pm Tuesday, also according to the Comelec transparency server.
”Hindi pa tapos ang laban ni Leni. Angat siya, lumalaban siya. Patuloy tayong magbantay, manalig at sumuporta. Siguraduhin natin na mabibilang ng tama ang kanyang boto,” Roxas said.
Santiago was yet to issue a statement on the result of the elections. (MindaNews)
