Presidential daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio said she wept when she learned that Davao City had delivered a 12-0 vote in the Senate races in favor of her Hugpong ng Pagbabago in the May 13 elections.
“I am not a person who cries easily but when it was definite that Davao City delivered a 12-0 for senators of HNP, the tears flowed and the sobbing followed,” Duterte-Carpio, who was reelected to a third term as mayor, wrote on her Instagram account.
“I am bowed and humbled,” she said.
Duterte-Carpio visited almost 70 provinces across the nation as HNP’s campaign manager.
The newly-proclaimed Davao City mayor also posted in Instagram photo of her kneeling inside a church.
She quoted a Bible verse, saying “To whomever much is given, of him will much be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked.”
The mayor said the 12-0 win in Davao was a first for the city.
“Daghang Salamat sa inyong tanan, I have said that I feel alone everyday stressing over making sure Davao is ok but when I am in distress, Dabawenyos carry me on their back,” she said.
Among the candidates endorsed by HNP, only former journalist Jiggy Manicad did not win election.
Based on the latest official count of the Comelec, nine of the 13 HNP-backed candidates are poised to win a Senate seat.
Meanwhile, the returning representative of Leyte’s 1st District, Martin Romualdez, said the strong showing of administration-backed candidates was a vote of confidence and an affirmation of the people’s continued support for President Rodrigo Duterte and his policies.
“The outstanding showing of President Duterte and Mayor Sara’s senatorial candidates only affirmed the solid support of majority of Filipino people to President Duterte,” Romualdez said.
The Palace said the public’s rejection of Otso Diretso should cause the opposition to reassess their actions, and urged the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) to accept defeat instead of accusing the administration of cheating.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo made the statement after Bayan’s Secretary General Renato Reyes questioned the so-called “Duterte magic” in the midterm election.
He said that “magic” was delivered by way of the use of government resources to favor administration bets and the use of the country’s’ armed forces to target and harass opposition groups, especially those on the left.
Reyes said the control over the Commission on Elections, the “hocus-pocus”of the automated polls, martial law in Mindanao, and the government-sponsored disinformation also contributed to the President’s big win in Monday’s polls.
“The so-called ‘Duterte magic’ mentioned above is the reason why the poll results are not credible. It was the systematic cheating and rigging of the elections which gave us these results,” Reyes said.
“[Opposition senatorial candidate] Neri Colmenares is correct in refusing to concede due to the fraudulent nature of the polls. He is sounding off the call to denounce fraud and hold accountable those responsible,” he added.
Reyes then called on people to join the Black Friday protests on May 17 and stand against poll fraud.
Meanwhile, Fitch Solutions Macro Research said the strong administration showing could actually lower the country’s political risk score.
“Reduced opposition within the Senate lowers the potential for checks and balances on Duterte’s administration and may over time see a decline in our Long-Term Political Risk Index score of 65.4 out of 100 for the country,” Fitch Solutions said in a commentary sent to reporters Wednesday.
READ: Duterte siblings sweep Davao polls
READ: Fitch: Weaker Senate opposition to reduce ‘checks and balances’
