MANILA -- Labor advocate Leody De Guzman thanked students and workers' organizations on Tuesday, as he conceded defeat in the senatorial race dominated by allies of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Before the election, De Guzman was in the winners' circle in the mock polls of several schools, including the University of the Philippines Diliman and the University of San Carlos.
"Hindi tayo pinalad na makapasok sa winning circle pero pumasok naman tayo sa puso ng mga kabataang estudyante at organisadong seksyon ng mga manggagawa," De Guzman said in a Facebook post.
(We were not fortunate enough to enter the winning circle but we entered the hearts of young students and the organized section of workers.)
De Guzman of the Partido Lakas ng Masa was in 38th place with 866,082 votes around 1 p.m., according to data from the Commission on Elections transparency server that was culled from nearly 95 percent of clustered precincts.
Nine of 12 candidates in the top 12 were endorsed by the administration, according to the unofficial tally.
halalan 2019, 2019 elections, Senate, senate race, election results, Leody De Guzman