While presumed Senator Bam Aquino and his team “had a good feeling” he will win in this year's midterm elections, the sudden upset ranking at Top 2 was a complete surprise to the comebacking senator.

Speaking to his team and the media at his campaign headquarters in Quezon City, Aquino said he was both surprised and happy with the current results, albeit partial and unofficial.

Based on the partial and unofficial tally as of 11:11 p.m. of May 12, he garnered 20,063,635 votes with 75.45 percent of election returns.

“Very, very surprised. Siyempre masaya. But sobrang unexpected ito. Kahit ‘yung team ko unexpected sa kanila na ganito kataas, we had a good feeling, pasok kami. Pero ‘yung ganito kataas, hindi talaga namin ‘yun unexpected (Of course, happy. But this is super unexpected. Even my team, this high ranking is unexpected, we had a good feeling, we are in. But this high, it is really unexpected),” he said.

The expectation, he added, was for him to place “anywhere from six to 10.”

Aquino was, in fact, not minding his phone for the past three to four hours but was surprised at the congratulatory messages upon checking it.

The senatorial candidate initially credited his win to youth votes, in particular, as this was something he had seen on the campaign trail—parents whispering to him that their children wanted them to vote for him.

“And palagay ko sila (youth) ‘yung malaking factor sa pagkapanalo namin ni Kiko (And I think they [youth] are the big factor to mine and Kiko’s win),” referring to his tandem, former senator Kiko Pangilinan, who’s currently on the Top 5.

Aquino also received last-minute and critical endorsements from the influential Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC), Jesus Is Lord Church (JIL), Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), among others.

“Malaking bagay ‘yun. Marami ring LGUs (That’s big. A lot of LGUs, too). But honestly, itong surge kasi sa dulo, kailangan na rin naming makita kung saan galing ‘yung mga boto (this surge in the end, we have to see where the votes came from),” he said.

“But we'll have time to understand that pag nahimay na ‘yung mga boto (when we dissect the votes). But as of right now, nais po namin magpasalamat sa lahat po ng mga tumulong, at naniwala, at nagsuporta (we want to thank everyone for the help, trust, and support),” he added.

With his apparent win still “fresh,” Aquino shared that what he wants to do first is to thank his volunteers and everyone who helped in his campaign.

“And then as soon as matapos ‘yung pasasalamat, panahon na magtrabaho (after giving thanks, it’s time to work),” he stressed.

Aquino hovered between the 11th spot and the 16th spot in pre-election surveys days before the elections.