MANILA, Philippines — Reelectionist senator Sonny Angara and Duterte’s political adviser Francis Tolentino have thanked supporters as partial and unofficial count indicates they would be among likely victors in this year’s polls.
Partial and unofficial count of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) shows Angara and Tolentino clinched the 5th and 9th spot, respectively, in the so-called “Magic 12” senators.
As of 12:55 p.m. Tuesday, May 14, a total of 94.68% or 83,174 of 87,851 election returns have already been transmitted to the transparency server of the Commission on Elections. The partial and unofficial count states Angara garnered 17,556,384 votes while Tolentino garnered 14,901,491 votes, as of this posting.
Angara was a Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) senatorial candidate, who was endorsed by the Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) regional party formed by presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and a guest candidate of President Rodrigo Duterte’s PDP-Laban party.
“Results still unofficial but not [too early] to say THANK YOU to the public, especially to the many who helped and supported,” the senator said in a Twitter post.
Results still unofficial but not 2early to say THANK YOU to the public, especially to the many who helped and supported🙏🏽❤️🇵🇭
— Sonny Angara (@sonnyangara) May 14, 2019
Meanwhile, Tolentino posted a short video on his Facebook page, where he said: “Pagkatapos ng halalan natin kahapon, nagpapasalamat po ako sa ating mga kababayan, sa inyong mga ‘Tol.” (After the elections yesterday, I thank our fellow citizens and my supporters.)
Tolentino is a PDP-Laban candidate endorsed by HNP.
“Alam kong napagod lahat tayo – ‘yung mga volunteers, ang ating mga kababayan, ‘yung ating mga guro.” (I know we are all tired – volunteers, our citizens, and our teachers.)
“Nagpapasalamat din po ako kay Pangulong Duterte, Iglesia ni Cristo at sa lahat na tumulong sa kampanya ngayong 2019,” he added.
(I also thank President Duterte, Iglesia ni Cristo and everyone who helped in the 2019 campaign.)
Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ) is a group known for its practice of bloc voting.
Tolentino then vowed: “Makakaasa po kayo na si ‘Tol, si Francis Tolentino, ay laging nasa likuran ng ating sambayanan.” (You can expect that I will always be behind our people.)
Tolentino, a former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chief, lost in the 2016 senatorial race when he ran as an independent candidate.
He finished 13th place in that election, defeated by Senator Leila De Lima whom he accused of cheating. He filed an electoral protest against De Lima, only to withdraw his complaint last February. /kga
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