Former senator Kiko Pangilinan, who will more than likely secure a spot in the Senate’s Magic 12, said it was a “miracle” that he received as much votes since he was well-outside the winning circle in pre-election surveys.

Speaking to reporters via Zoom on late Monday night, May 12, just a few hours after the closing of the polls, the presumed senator expressed his gratitude to his supporters despite the tally yet to be official.

“We didn’t expect ‘yung ganitong paglabas ng resulta dahil nga base sa lahat ng mga surveys wala tayo lagi sa Top 12 (this result because based on all surveys, we are not in the Top 12). And therefore, na-sorpresa rin tayo (we were surprised) but at the back of our minds, there is one path to victory and it all depended to the last big push, iyong huling (the last) big push which we did,” he explained.

With 80.4 percent of election returns counted in the partial and unofficial tally of media servers, Pangilinan garnered more than 12 million votes and is currently on the fifth spot.

“Sabi ko nga kailangan ko ng milagro para manalo. Mukhang iyon ang nangyari (I said I needed a miracle to win. It looks like that’s what happened). In the last minute, maraming decided who said, sige bigyan natin ng tiyansa ang ating naging mensahe (many decided to give our message a chance),” he added.

Pangilinan credited this apparent Senate win to the final push he did in the remaining weeks of the campaign season.

This included endorsements from local governments, radio interviews, campaign caravans, his and wife Megastar Sharon Cuneta-Pangilinan’s visit to Mindanao, and his clear message of his advocacy—food security.

He recalled being in disbelief at seeing the messages on the Telegram thread with his team, and initially thought the information was “fake news.”

But if there’s “one hopeful outcome” to how the results have turned out, Pangilinan said it’s that voters rejected the disinformation and smear campaign against him.

“Kung talagang effective iyong fake news nila eh di tayo dapat nasa Top 5 (If their fake news is really effective, then we shouldn’t have been in the Top 5),” he stressed.

Pangilinan shared that he has exchanged messages with former vice president Leni Robredo, who secured her win as Naga City’s first female mayor, who was “very happy” with their win.

“Big win for us,” he said, referring to Robredo’s win, as well as that of presumed Senator Bam Aquino, now in the Top 2 of the Senate race, and former senator Leila de Lima for Mamamayang Liberal Partylist and human rights lawyer Chel Diokno for Akbayan Partylist.