Graceful exit

There was no shortage of sympathy from his colleagues in the Senate. Sen. Miguel Zubiri left the Congress building with many well-wishers on his trail perhaps content that investigation into alleged cheating in the 2007 wouldn’t end on his doorstep.

Oh wait, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said it will probe deeper into the 2007 and 2004 elections to verify claims by ex-Commission on Elections (Comelec) poll supervisor Lintang Bedol of Maguindanao province that there was cheating by the former Arroyo administration of which Zubiri was a part.

While ex-Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano was adamant that nothing illegal was done, Bedol’s presence and the sudden turnabout of suspended Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan were enough to convince Zubiri to step down.

“Without admitting any fault and with my vehement denial of the alleged electoral fraud hurled against me, I am submitting my resignation as a duly elected senator of the Republic of the Philippines in the election of which I am falsely accused without mercy and compassion,” Zubiri said on Wednesday.

Well and good. But with only two years left, the man he supposedly beat, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, won’t have much time as senator of the Filipino people he campaigned to serve. That is if the Senate Electoral Tribunal nullifies soon Zubiri’s victory by proclaiming Pimentel the winner in the recount of votes.

Still, Pimentel can take consolation in serving for a couple of years in the Senate. In contrast, former Cebu congressional candidate Celestino “Tining” Martinez III experienced the cruelty of serving for only two months at the most after the Supreme Court ruled that he was the rightful representative of Cebu’s 4th district.

Zubiri’s resignation does not down the heat for former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who along with her husband are feeling the pressure to stand trial or face their accusers for the graft and election fraud charges leveled against them.

Zubiri qualified his resignation by saying he would run again for the Senate in 2013, barely two years from now.

Will he run under the administration Liberal Party banner or stick it out with Arroyo, whose Kampi party is losing its grip on Lakas and may soon witness the exodus of key figures who will jump ship to ensure their political survival?

For now, Zubiri got his graceful exit and looks forward to that opportunity to serve again.