Atienza concedes
defeat to Lim

THE way is now clear for Sen. Alfredo Lim to retake his former post as mayor of Manila with the last of his significant rivals conceding defeat yesterday.

Arnold "Ali" Atienza, son of outgoing mayor Lito Atienza, yesterday met with Lim at the Diamond Hotel to concede, saying that he is bowing to the will of the Manila voters.

"It’s still a victory for me, to receive such an overwhelming support from a good number of Manileños who believe in the Atienza government’s urban renewal and development program," the younger Atienza said.

He also said his camp will no longer pursue any legal action against Lim and his supporters for barging inside their campaign headquarters on suspicion that irregularities were being planned by the Atienza camp in the counting. Lim later apologized for his action.

"Let there be no room for division in sincerely improving the welfare of Manileños. Mayor Atienza has set the direction towards the full development of the city, and we are confident Sen. Lim will aggressively pursue the same path to alleviate poverty in Manila," Atienza said, adding that Lim won the elections "fairly and squarely."

On the other hand, Lim said in a radio interview that Atienza is a worthy opponent, as he hailed Atienza and his father for their sportsmanship. "I humbly accept their sportsmanship, especially Ali, who is very young and will definitely go a long way in his political career. We should forget the past. Let us work for the present and the future for the betterment of Manila ," he said.

Atienza proved to be Lim’s closest opponent for the post, garnering 16,113 votes against Lim’s 23,108 votes as of 9:55 p.m. Wednesday. Two other contenders, Danny Lacuna and Rodolfo Bacani, conceded defeat much earlier.

Only Maria Crespo-Alsua, sister of former Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez, has yet to concede, although she only has 477 votes with 75 percent of all votes already counted. Her delay in conceding has also delayed Lim’s proclamation by local election officers.