The election results, particularly in the senatorial battle, reflected the repudiation of the broad alliance of the communists, the Liberal Party (LP) and their allies as much as an affirmation of approval on the three-year performance of President Rody Duterte.

“Even the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has backed down on an earlier call of the bishops to defer the proclamation of winning senatorial candidates due to allegations of massive fraud.

Voters were likely turned off by the underhanded efforts of the oust-Duterte forces, particularly the frantic effort to link the President and his children to the drugs trade through the farcical “Bikoy” videos that resulted in the poor showing of all political foes of Rody.

Prior to the release of the “Bikoy” video series, the surveys indicated two yellow candidates were in a respectable position in the Top 12. Their chances started to disintegrate after the yellow operation to discredit Rody and at the same time boost the Otso Diretso candidacies was exposed.

The release of the matrix establishing the links of groups responsible for the uploading and dissemination of the “Bikoy” videos also gave the public an idea of how virulent and desperate were the enemies of Rody.

The operation boomeranged on the opposition candidates, primarily since the “Bikoy” episode was no different from the unsubstantiated allegations raised by the yellow senatorial bets, specifically Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano.

Losing Otso Diretso bet Chel Diokno gave the perfect analysis of the predicament of the yellow wannabes in the previous polls, saying the opponents of Rody can only do so much.

“We did our best and we did well,” he said in accepting the results of the polls.

The shutout was also blamed on the move of its main candidate Mar Roxas to disassociate with Otso Diretso by conducting his own campaign, resulting in their disastrous loss primarily in Western Visayas, once a bailiwick of the LP.

Voting results from the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental showed that only Sen. Bam Aquino and former Interior Secretary Roxas landed in the Top 12.

Roxas topped the senatorial race in his hometown in Capiz, while Aquino finished fourth.

Roxas ranked seventh in Antique and fourth in Aklan, Guimaras, Iloilo and even in Negros Occidental where his clan hails.

The opponents of Rody are not letting up and are now trying to drum up their spin of a manipulated elections.

The anti-Duterte forces called for a “Black Friday” nationwide protest against the alleged cheating, but only 70 people in Naga City, hometown of Vice President Leni Robredo, and some small group at the venue of the tally showed up.

The people have not responded to the call of protests since they knew who they voted for and it was reflected in the ballot despite the sour graping of Rody’s foes.

Even the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has backed down on an earlier call of the bishops to defer the proclamation of winning senatorial candidates due to allegations of massive fraud.

“The CBCP has not made a call or appeal or suggestion to suspend the proclamation of the winning senatorial candidates in our recent elections,” Davao Archbishop and CBCP president Romulo Valles said over Church-run Radio Veritas.

Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the CBCP Permanent Committee on Public Affairs, clarified an earlier statement of Fr. Edwin Gariguez, executive secretary of the NASSA/Caritas Philippines, saying that it was Gariguez’s personal opinion and not a stand of the CBCP.

Similar to the “Bikoy” videos which were hyped up rumors, the call for the suspension of the Commission on Elections process was based on the fact that none of the opposition candidates made it to the Senate that was associated with the glitch in the Smartmatic machines and system.

While Smartmatic has a shameful record in Philippine elections that included poll rigging, those were done in favor of the yellow candidates, such as assuring the victory of the fake Vice President.

The knee-jerk response of branding the elections as tainted by fraud is expected from Rody’s opponents since they are now in a precarious state of facing political extinction.