MANILA, Philippines – How are Filipinos online taking the midterm election results so far?

Netizens on Tuesday, May 14, took to social media to share their thoughts on the winning senators as initial results of the elections were being transmitted from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) tranparency server. 

Not a single Otso Diretso candidate made it to the magic 12 based on the partial, unofficial results as of 3:13 pm, with 94.94% of precinct reporting. Bam Aquino and Mar Roxas landed on the 14th and 16th spot, respectively.

Jennet Cerrer Sta Monica said she was disappointed with the results but hardly surprised. Sta Monica added that Filipinos vote for a government they think they deserve.

Dismayadong dismayado!!!
Yung nasa harapan na natin yung mga kandidatong worthy and qualified… pero yung mga hipokrito parin yung nananalo. #PHVote #Halalan2019 #HalalanResults #Eleksyon2019

— cnwindows10 (@aghasepangpang) May 14, 2019

Broken hearted
Niloko kana nga, pinagbigyan mo PA. Yung kasabihan na kumuha ka ng bato na ipupokpok mo sa sarili mong ulo. Haist

— EPSazon (@SazonEman) May 14, 2019

Leading to the elections, administration bets had been consistently topping surveys with opposition candidates lagging behind. (READ: Spotlight on surveys: Bong Go’s rise and how other HNP bets are faring)

Twitter user Fil Amboy stressed the importance of educating people about the independence of the 3 branches of government to maintain checks and balances.

Frustrated ! There is a need to educate the electorate about the importance of check and balance. That the legislative and judiciary shall not be dictated upon by the executive.

— Fil Amboy (@worldlinkt8t) May 14, 2019

Inrico Robb, meanwhile, said the results of the election proved that Filipinos are not aware of the issues of the country. The same sentiment was echoed by Amadeus Quiaoit, saying that people want “radical change” yet they voted such candidates.  

After the polls closed on Monday, netizens expressed their disappointment on social media over the initial results. Keywords ‘migrate’ and ‘how to migrate’ were top searches on Google late night.  (READ: Pinoys tweet, search about migrating as election results come in)

Netizens also pointed out the inconsistencies in the counting of ballots as they closely watch the transmission of the votes. Some claimed that the ballot receipts didn’t reflect how they voted. Many attributed perceived irregularities to the malfunctioning of many VCMs early Monday. In some areas, Comelec was quick to replace VCMs that encountered technical glitches.

Heard from friends that their voting receipt reflected BongGo and BatoBato DelaRosa’s name even though they didn’t tick for those names. This is in Bicol and I hope this gets resolved. #Eleksyon2019 #Halalan2019 #PhVote

— EM fajardo (@emfralippi) May 13, 2019

Doubtful of the senatorial. results. Comelec failed the Filipino voters big time. Transparency server is a misnomer.

— Otso_Naj (@otso_jan) May 14, 2019

On Twitter, Otso Diretso bet Chel Diokno’s supporters expressed dismay and gratitude over the unofficial results using #SalamatChel which eventually trended. (READ: We had one shot’: #SalamatChel trends for Twitter’s woke lolo)

Diokno is Twitter’s favorite “Woke Lolo,” having the biggest share of voice among the Senate candidates in the past month, according to CrowdTangle data.

Here’s what others had to say about the partial, unofficial results of the election:

Election reactions – Curated tweets by rapplerdotcom

What about you? How do you feel about the midterm election results so far? – Rappler.com

Follow Rappler’s full coverage of the 2019 Philippine elections here.

Check this Rappler page for real-time election results.