MANILA, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's political allies overwhelmingly won in midterm elections for the Philippine Senate, preliminary results showed on Tuesday.
Eight of the senatorial candidates that Duterte endorsed dominated the 12 Senate seats, according to almost 95 percent of election returns counted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Only four candidates not backed by Duterte made it to the 12 winning candidates.
However, none of the opposition candidates made the cut.
The poll body is expected to officially declare the winners in the coming days.
While the results of the elections are still unofficial, Philippine presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo on Tuesday told a news conference at the presidential palace that "there appears to be an unstoppable trend towards a resounding victory of the administration's favored senatorial candidates."
He said "The overwhelming majority of the electorate has responded to the call of the president to support those whom he said would help pass laws supportive of his goal to uplift the masses of our people and give them comfortable lives they richly deserve."
Nearly 62 million Filipino voters nationwide have registered to elect new senators, members of House of Representatives, and local officials in Monday's midterm elections.
