Communication Secretary Sonny Coloma INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC
“OUR PEOPLE have spoken and their verdict is accepted and respected.”
President Aquino, who has said that this election is a referendum on his daang matuwid, or straight path, governance, issued this statement on Tuesday through his spokesperson, Herminio Coloma Jr., as unofficial returns from Monday’s elections showed Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was inexorably heading toward a landslide presidential mandate.
“The path of good governance … is already established as all presidential candidates spoke out against corruption,” Coloma said.
There was no soaring rhetoric, but plenty of tears, in the concession statements issued by Duterte’s presidential rivals.
“I will not be a party pooper at this time of festive mood,” said Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, Duterte’s harshest critic.
“I will step back, listen to his policy pronouncements. This time I don’t expect a stand-up comedy act but a President who will address the nation,” Trillanes said.
A tailender in the vice presidential race, Trillanes threw everything but the kitchen sink against Duterte in the final days of the campaign and filed plunder charges against the mayor for his alleged unexplained wealth.
Roxas concedes
In a news conference on Tuesday, Mr. Aquino’s chosen successor, Mar Roxas, said, using the mayor’s nickname, “Digong, I wish you success.”
“Your victory is the victory of our people and our country,” Roxas, who emerged second in the contest behind Duterte, said to cheers from his supporters chanting his name as though he had won.
“There are many tears in the room. Let me tell you: This is not a time for tears,” Roxas said, his voice cracking.
“For our country, we have had a peaceful (and) successful transfer of power. It’s not about me … It’s about how we love our country and how we’ll do all that we can for her. She’s the only one,” he said.
His wife, Korina Sanchez, stood beside Roxas as he delivered his 10-minute speech and uttered one line thanking Mr. Aquino for his support. He was presidential front-runner in the 2010 elections but gave way to Mr. Aquino and instead run as Vice President, and lost.
“I read somewhere that it is not the battle or the conquest that we remember, but the soldier who stood beside us, who stayed true to us, who we treasure the most. To all of you, thank you so much. I will never forget you.”
Clean conscience
Sen. Grace Poe was the first to concede defeat on Monday night.
In her campaign headquarters in Quezon City, Poe looked all of the grueling 90-day campaign that she went through to pursue her a dream which had eluded her adoptive father, the late movie action king Fernando Poe Jr.
“I congratulate Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and I promise to cooperate in healing the country and unite with our countrymen to push for the continued progress of the country,” said Poe, who was accompanied by her American husband, Neil Llamanzares, and her son, Brian, in the hastily called press conference.
“I will sleep this night with a clean conscience, calm in the knowledge that me and my supporters have done everything we could,” said Poe, a foundling allowed by the Supreme Court to run for President despite “misrepresentations” in her certificate of candidacy. She will return to the Senate to complete the rest of her six-year term.
Duterte said Poe called him an hour before to congratulate him.
“I have repeatedly called for respecting institutions and the democratic process. Once the process is completed, we should always respect the outcome,” Vice President Jejomar Binay said in a statement before Monday midnight.
Heal divided land
“We should all move toward healing and unity for our divided land,” said Binay, who ended up in fourth place.
He stayed home after casting his ballot, appearing only in the public after her daughter, Abigail Binay, claimed victory in the Makati mayoralty race before dawn on Tuesday, continuing the decadeslong Binay dynasty in the country’s premier city.
Binay held a closed-door meeting with his supporters at New Horizons Hotel in Mandaluyong City on Monday night, where he met with his APO fraternity brothers at the vanguard of his political campaign.
He was the first to announce his quest for the presidency and paid dearly with a yearlong bashing in the Senate led by Trillanes for his alleged unexplained wealth.
No ‘Plan B’
Coloma said Mr. Aquino watched on TV at the presidential security room the election results coming in Monday night “with equanimity and objectivity.”
Mr. Aquino was silent while Duterte discussed the treason complaint the mayor had filed against the President and Trillanes for allegedly losing in backdoor talks with China the Scarborough Shoal. Chinese gunboats have prevented poor Filipino fishermen from their traditional fishing waters.
In a press briefing, Coloma said that the administration was “ready and willing” to work with Duterte. “Our people have spoken and their verdict is accepted and respected,” Coloma said.
Coloma dismissed as “irresponsible” allegations that the Aquino administration was already gearing up for a “Plan B” to have Duterte impeached so that Rep. Leni Robredo, who is leading in the tight vice presidential race, would be installed as President. With reports from Leila B. Salaverria, Marlon Ramos, Nikko Dizon, Gil C. Cabacungan, Christine O. Avendaño and AP