Image from Manny Pinol’s Facebook account - Vice President Jejomar Binay has finally conceded to Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte
- Both camps confirmed Binay’s move, said he phoned Duterte Thursday evening
- Only Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago has yet to formally concede
MANILA, Philippines – He has finally thrown in the towel.
Days after his rivals Sen. Grace Poe and Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Mar Roxas ‘surrendered’, Vice President Jejomar Binay also bowed out of the presidential race in favor of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
In an interview, Binay’s spokesman Joey Salgado announced that the Vice President called up Duterte Thursday evening, March 13, to concede and congratulate him.
“We confirm that Vice President Binay has talked to President-elect Duterte. He extended his congratulations and wished the president-elect all the best,” Salgado told Rappler.
Duterte’s long-time aide Bong Go confirmed the call.
“He congratulated Mr. President,” he said.
Binay earlier said he would wait for the final count and hinted on filing an election protest due to what he called the anomalous counting of votes especially in Cebu.
“There were VCMs (vote counting machines) that came out with different results. There were VCMs that bogged down. There were results that were just unbelievable,” he said. “I only got 69,000 votes but I was always with a lot of people. I shook the hands of at least 100,000 people.”
A day before he conceded, Binay was also seen being comforted by his Alpha Phi Omega brothers.
Binay is in fourth place with 5.3 million votes; behind Poe’s 8.9 million and Roxas’ 9.6 million.
Duterte, meanwhile, has garnered 15.9 million votes and counting — the most by any presidential candidate in Philippine history.
Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, the last-placer in the race with only 1.4 million votes, is the only candidate who has yet to formally concede to Duterte.
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