We’ll respect Pimentel’s decision if he leaves coalition–spokesman

Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – The United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) will accept the decision of Senator Aquilino Pimentel III should he refuse to run with UNA for the 2013 senatorial race.

“We will respect that decision. We will not take it against him,” lawyer JV Bautista, UNA spokesperson said in an interview over Radyo Inquirer 990AM early Thursday.

Senator Pimentel had publicly stated that he does not want to run with another potential UNA senatorial candidate, former Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri.

Zubiri resigned last year from the senate after a long recount of the 2007 elections that declared Pimentel as the official 12^th senator.

Zubiri has not expressed any problems in running with Pimentel. More than once in several interviews, he made an appeal to Pimentel to “move on.”

UNA is a coalition formed when Vice President Jejomar Binay’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) signed an agreement with former President Joseph Estrada’s Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP).

Pimentel had said that it was Binay who decided to include Zubiri in the senatorial slate of UNA.

Bautista said the coalition was doing everything possible to fix the issues between the two candidates.

“The party, PDP- Laban, in fact will [still] campaign for [Pimentel]. As long as he will not leave the PDP-Laban, then why would we not campaign for him when he is its President?” Bautista said.

He added that complications would only arise if he goes to another party.