Palace denies pressure on Zubiri to quit

A Malacañang official has denied applying pressure on Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri to force him to resign from the Senate.

Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Ronald Llamas said it must have been the truth, not political pressure, that prompted Zubiri to relinquish his post in the Senate.

Llamas was named by a source privy to details behind Zubiri’s resignation as the Palace official that told  the senator to choose whether he wanted the resolution of Aquino “Koko” Pimentel III’s election protest and Zubiri’s counterprotest to proceed quickly or slowly.

“I cannot pressure a sitting senator. Only the truth coming out can do that. Hopefully, conscience had a role too,” Llamas said in a text message late Thursday night.

“We have no control over the (Senate Electoral Tribunal). The numbers in the counting and perhaps, the exposes of the whistle-blowers, can speak for themselves. No pressure can do that,” Llamas added.

Overestimated

Pimentel, citing fraud, had filed an election protest against Zubiri with the Senate Electoral Tribunal and asked the body to proclaim him the official winner of the 12th and final slot in the 2007 senatorial race which Zubiri had taken.

In a statement released Friday, Llamas said Zubiri’s people were “overestimating his influence” as he denied having had any hand in the supposed powerplay that allegedly happened after Zubiri indicated his opposition to the Aquino administration’s bid to postpone the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Llamas said it was up to the SET to resolve the matter between Pimentel and Zubiri.

“I think the numbers in the ongoing Senate Electoral Tribunal recount demanded by senatorial candidate Koko Pimentel will eventually show us the real story of who won the last seat in the 2007 Senatorial election,” Llamas said.

“Let’s wait for the results of the SET so we can finally find out the truth about what happened in 2007,” he added.