Senate bet Montaño concedes loss

Retired Major General Ramon Montaño INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Independent senatorial candidate retired Major General Ramon Montaño conceded Tuesday, saying the win of candidates from two major political groupings was a “defeat of true democracy.”

“The nation had gone to the polls and we have lost our fight for the Senate. It could have been a good fight for all of us, for many of you who believed in my crusade for true reforms fought and toiled long and hard in this Senate Battle,” Montaño said in a statement sent to the Inquirer Tuesday morning.

“But we just don’t have the resources to combat the gigantic power and wealth of the LP and UNA. Their victory is the defeat of true democracy for the Filipino people,” added the 76-year old former chief of the defunct Philippine Constabulary-Integrated National Police.

Montaño thanked his supporters and vowed to continue his advocacies for military and police retirees and senior citizens, among others.

“Let us continue this fight for democracy outside the Senate…in the homes, in the schools, in the streets and in the rural, mountain barangays, the bedrock of our nation,” he said.