ROXAS (INQUIRER PHOTO)
Emotions ran high at the Liberal Party headquarters as standard-bearer Mar Roxas announced his concession to the leading presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte yesterday.
Sen. Grace Poe was the first to concede Monday midnight at her team’s headquarter in Quezon City.
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who is leading the partial and unofficial tally of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), is ahead of Roxas by at least 6 million votes. Roxas overtook Poe at second place according to the latest partial and unofficial tally of the Comelec.
“According to the unofficial tally of Comelec, Mayor Digong is the clear winner. I wish you success, Mayor Duterte. Your success is the success of the Filipino people,” Roxas said.
Supporters of Roxas were seen crying as he delivered a speech at a packed function hall at the Balay headquarters in Cubao, Quezon City. Roxas was with his wife Korina Sanchez.
The administration candidate thanked President Aquino and his family, the Liberal Party and its allied parties, the non-government organizations, civil society organizations, and his support base — “The Silent Majority” — and all the ordinary citizens who supported him in his campaign.
“Sa lahat pong tumayo, to all of you who took up the cudgels, who shared in our aspirations, na nakasama kong tumayo, maraming-maraming salamat sa inyong lahat,” he said.
Poe conceded to Duterte over the phone and later to the media on Monday midnight.
“Ako si Grace Poe at naging kandidato para sa pagkapangulo ngayong 2016 ay nagbibigay-daan kay Rodrigo Duterte na siyang maliwanag na nangunguna sa kasalukuyang bilangan at siyang napili ng nakararami sa ating mga kababayan,” Poe said.