Bro. Eddie Villanueva congratulates the Filipino people for taking back power in their hands through their resolute will to elect a new President.
In a statement, Villanueva said, "Salamat sa lahat ng Pilipinong nanindigan para bumoto at magluklok ng kanilang lider sa pwesto. Yan ang kapangyarihan ng eleksyon!"
Villanueva, a fighter of democratic rights, said he submits to the will of the Filipino people.
"With the new President elected, Bangon Pilipinas will find ways to help in nation-building, especially in areas where we could pursue social reforms that would benefit the majority of the Filipino people," Villanueva said.
Villanueva added that while he did not get the Presidency, he will continue advocating for righteous governance and will pursue the ideals and principles that guide Bangon Pilipinas. He also assured the new President that he will be praying for his success and blessing.
He also said that he will ask the next President and the legislators to look into election laws so that it could be perfected to further strengthen our electoral system as a democratic process. "Bangon Pilipinas national headquarters received numerous reports of our supporters voting for us but the election returns showing zero. The problem is that the PCOS machines do not issue receipts showing the voter that the ones he voted for are the ones that were counted. That is why many of our supporters cannot believe that we scored less than a million votes only. In Luneta alone we had 1.2 million people. We believe that this is an imperfection in the system that should be addressed by corrective legislation."
There were also complaints about the transparency of how the votes were counted by the precinct count optical scan machines. "These are valid complaints that needed to be addressed and which we hope will no longer be issues in future automated elections," Villanueva said.
Villanueva also thanked his supporters who were steadfast from the beginning. "Bawat isang boto nyo ay boto para sa tunay na pagbabago. Sa panahon na kakaunti ang naniwala sa atin, hindi kayo natinag. Salamat sa inyong tiwala!", he said.
During the campaign period, farmers and fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, overseas Filipino workers and Muslim communities joined Villanueva and helped him explain his platform on new politics and a new economic model that would bridge the gap between the rich and poor.
Villanueva called on other candidates to also find common grounds where they could all work together for a fresh beginning for the Philippines.
"Pagtulung-tulungan natin ang pagbangon ng Pilipinas!", Villanueva said.