Palace: Otso Diretso gave a good fight but Duterte magic prevailed

Malacañang on Tuesday attributed to President Rodrigo Duterte's endorsement power the strong showing in the midterm elections of the senatorial candidates allied with the administration.

Nine of the 12 Senate seats at stake in Monday's vote are expected to go to administration candidates, based on partial and unofficial results. Independents would clinch the three other seats as some opposition Otso Diretso candidates already conceded defeat.

"While the results of the elections are still unofficial, there appears to be an unstoppable trend towards a resounding victory of the administration’s favored senatorial candidates. Undoubtedly, the Duterte magic spelled the difference," presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said at a news conference.

He said the "overwhelming majority" of the electorate have responded to the hugely popular President's call to support those whom he said would help pass laws supportive of his goal "to uplift the masses of our people and give them comfortable lives they richly deserve."

Panelo said the voters rejected the negative propaganda unleashed by the opposition against the President and his administration such as extrajudicial killings, the drug war and the South China Sea dispute.

At a news conference a day after the midterm elections, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo says Palace expects the incoming administration allies in the Senate to be independent. He adds the Senate has never been under any president. @gmanews pic.twitter.com/wvh8lMeyPv

— Virgil Lopez (@virgillopez) May 14, 2019

"The victory of the administration’s candidates and the shut out of the Otso Diretso candidates send a strong message that our people yearn for stability and continuity of the genuine reforms that the administration started. They yearn for a constructive – not obstructionist – Senate which will help in crafting the President’s legislative agenda," he said.

"We laud the Filipino electorate for expressing their will in the strongest and unequivocal manner."

The Palace official thanked the Otso Diretso candidates and their supporters for giving their best shot and fighting a good battle.

"As we have said, we respect dissent as it vitalizes the democracy of our nation. In the end, however, it is the will of the people that prevails," he said.

While the government expects dissent to continue, Panelo hoped that it will be done "with fairness and within the bounds of the law, as well as with deference to the leaders duly chosen by the electorate."

"We only have one government and one nation. Together let us support it for the betterment of the Philippines that we all love," he said. — MDM, GMA News