Duterte slams Otso Diretso even after midterm elections

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday slammed the opposition senatorial candidates even after the midterm elections which saw his preferred bets clinching most of the Senate seats at stake.

Duterte maintained that the losing senatorial bets were all talk.

"Kung ’yan lang rin ang mga politiko, 'yung mga Otso Diretso sa impyerno, remember those guys, kung sino ’yang naiwan diyan, walang ginawa kung hindi magdaldal, walang contribution," he said in a speech before the Filipino community in Tokyo, Japan where he is on a working visit.

The President then hailed the credentials of incoming senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa, whom he endorsed in the last elections.

Nine of the 12 Senate seats that were up for grabs in the May 13 vote went to Duterte-backed candidates while independents took the rest. No opposition candidate made it to the winners' circle.  

Some critics already raised concerns on the consequences of having a lot of pro-administration bets in the 18th Congress which opens in July.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III, however, assured the public that the chamber will remain independent. —LDF, GMA News