Bato thanks Duterte supporters for 'protest vote' in Eleksyon 2025

Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa thanked Tuesday the supporters of former President Rodrigo Duterte as he attributed his Eleksyon 2025 win to the “protest votes” of those who are “very much aggrieved” on the latter’s detention in The Hague.

“‘Yung pag-angat natin dito sa results ay talagang it came with a very heavy price at ito ‘yung freedom ni Pangulong Duterte at ito, bigla tayong umangat nang husto sa survey after nila hinuli at ibiniyahe si Pangulong Duterte do’n sa The Hague,” Dela Rosa said in a statement.

(My high ranking in the [election] results came with a heavy price, the freedom of President Duterte. I rose after President Duterte was transported to The Hague.)

Dela Rosa, who was chief of the Philippine National Police during Duterte’s presidency, currently ranks third in the latest partial and unofficial senatorial race tally of the Commission on Elections.

”Ito po’y in-attribute ko talaga ‘yung aming kapanalunan sa kinasapitan ni Pangulong Duterte… Ganito kataas ‘yung aming natanggap na boto, these are protest votes coming from the people who are very much aggrieved about what happened to former President Duterte,” he added.

(I attribute this to what befell President Duterte. We received huge votes, these are protest votes coming from the people who are very much aggrieved about what happened to former President Duterte.)

Dela Rosa also acknowledged those who supported what he called a “guerrilla style” campaign in Eleksyon 2025 (election 2025), noting that being an “opposition” of the administration was a difficult situation.

“Ang hirap kumuha ng suporta doon sa LGUs na medyo takot din ma-bad shot kaya guerilla operations talaga ang ginawa ko. Hirap tayong makahiram ng eroplano, hirap tayong makahiram ng mga helicopter kaya nagmo-motorsiklo na lang ako all over the Philippines kung saan ako pupunta. Gano’n na lang. At least nagbunga rin ‘yung guerilla operations natin,” he said.

(It’s hard to get support from LGUs since you might not get their nod, so I resorted to guerilla operations. I had difficulty in borrowing an airplane, helicopter so I used a motorcycle in traveling all over the Philippines. At least my guerilla operations bore fruit.)

Based on the partial and unofficial count from the Comelec Media Server, Dela Rosa garnered over 20 million votes.

Dela Rosa is a longtime ally of the former president. He also admitted being a ‘co-accused’ in the same crimes against humanity charges against Duterte before the International Criminal Court. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News

For more Eleksyon 2025 related content and updates, visit GMA News Online's Eleksyon 2025 microsite.