On Wednesday, May 11, ABS-CBN franchise killers, representatives Mike Defensor, Precious Hipolito-Castelo, and Onyx Crisologo all lost against their opponents in Quezon City.
Defensor, whose gunning to be the next Quezon City mayor, was defeated by incumbent QC Mayor Joy Belmonte. His opponent enjoys a comfortable lead based on the partial, unofficial results early on Tuesday.
The outgoing representative only has 378,970 votes compared to Belmonte’s 600,266 votes.
He was one of the vocal politicians against the Kapamilya Network, insisting that there were multiple violations.
Congresswoman and former actress Hipolito-Castelo, another lawmaker who helped oust ABS-CBN, failed to clinch her reelection after Raffy Tulfo’s son, Ralph, garnered 124,468 votes against her 94,012.
Crisologo vied to be QC’s 1st District Representative. However, actor Arjo Ataydo is poised to win the congressional bid with 111,742 compared to his rival’s 52,554.
Back in July 2021, labor leader and presidential aspirant Ka Leody de Guzman pointed out that there would be retribution come election time.
The shutdown of ABS-CBN at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in 11,000 Filipinos looking for work.
“Sa halip na ang gobyerno ay humakbang para ampatin ang epekto ng pandemya sa unemployment, naging bahagi pa siya sa pagpaparami ng nga walang trabaho sa bansa.
“Alam ko hindi dito matatapos. Tingin ko yung next year, eleksyon, tingin ko may paniningil ang mga manggagawa sa gobyernong ito,” said Ka Leody.
The three ousters may have lost their bids, ABS-CBN still has a slim chance of getting back into the air as former congressman Rodante Marcoleta–is rumored to be the next secretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
