Re-electionist Senator Risa Hontiveros said she is happy to be included in “Magic 12” in the senatorial race, but admitted that in her heart, there are mixed emotions of sadness and disappointment.
“I cannot almost believe, and there is also shame. There are really mixed feelings in my heart this week,” Hontiveros, in an interview with DZMM, said.
Hontiveros thanked those who trusted and supported her, while giving her assurance that she will always standby Vice President Leni Robredo and Sen. Kiko Pangilinan.
She is the only opposition candidate who will most likely make it to the list of senators.
Senator Leila De Lima, who sought a fresh mandate, failed to make the top 12.
De Lima expressed her appreciation to friends, volunteers, individuals, and groups who tirelessly supported her reelection bid. The opposition senator noted she continues to find strength from the people who never gave up in fighting for and with her.
While she described the journey for the past three months as “an uphill battle,” the lady senator from Bicol stressed that she considers the experience as an “irreplaceable treasure.”
“I would not have been here as senator without your help, hard work and sacrifices. And I would not have had the strength and courage to keep fighting without your support and faith,” she said.
“As I have said, win or lose, it is the compassion for each other and love for our country that matter–love that propels our shared causes, no matter the cost or consequences,” De Lima said.
Ultimately, De Lima said she did not regret anything, stressing that she is still, and forever will be, thankful for the opportunity to serve the Filipinos.
Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV has conceded defeat in the recently-concluded senatorial race, saying that democracy is alive in the country as people picked their preferred leader.
“It may have been the most emotional campaign in our history, but it still turned out to be the most peaceful,” he said.
In the end, even if we have different beliefs, we are all Filipinos,” he also said.
Hontiveros, De Lima, and Trillanes all ran under the Robredo-Pangilinan ticket.
Meanwhile, three-term Senator Loren Legarda aired her heartfelt gratitude to the Filipino people for their overwhelming support in the May 9 elections.
Based on the ongoing canvassing, Legarda is among the frontrunners in the 2022 senatorial race.
Legarda currently ranks second among the senatorial candidates, based on unofficial results received through the Commission on Elections’ transparency server.
She topped the Senate race twice, in 1998 and 2007, and placed second in 2013.
The former senator emphasized that the new term that will be given to her by Filipino voters inspires her to work even harder for the future generations as she continues to push for the advocacies she has espoused for decades now—to bring government programs closer to the people, especially the marginalized and vulnerable, and to ensure an inclusive, equitable, resilient, and sustainable growth and recovery for all.
Legarda, who served as Antique Representative for three years, also expressed her deep appreciation for all Antiqueños who had moved her to do more in public service.
The Comelec, sitting as the Board of Canvassers for the senatorial and party-list elections, has already convened and started to receive the certificates of canvass from the cities and provinces and, according to reports, is expected to proclaim the winners within one week.