Sen. (read senator) Aquilino ‘Koko’ Pimentel III: Indescribable

SON FINALLY RISES. Newly proclaimed Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and his father, former Sen. Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., show the Senate Electoral Tribunal’s decision upholding his victory. LYN RILLON

The decision was not unexpected, but the feeling was “indescribable” just the same.

The struggle of lawyer Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III to claim a lawmaker’s seat ended Thursday with the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) officially proclaiming him the real winner of the 12th and final slot in the senatorial race in 2007.

The proclamation was made only a week after Juan Miguel Zubiri resigned and rendered the post vacant. But Zubiri’s move made no difference in the final SET decision, according to lawyer Irene Guevarra, the tribunal’s secretary.

The nine-member tribunal headed by Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio “annulled and set aside” the 2007 national board of canvassers’ resolution favoring Zubiri.

“Aquilino Pimentel III is declared as the 12th duly elected senator of the Philippines during the 14 May 2007 national and local elections,” the SET’s 36-page decision, which was signed by all its members except for Sen. Manuel Lapid, who was absent, read in part.

Guevarra said at a media briefing that the decision was made “immediately executory” because Pimentel had only a year and 10 months left in his term.

Pimentel will begin work at the Senate on Monday and plans to deliver a privilege speech—mainly to thank his supporters—in the 3 p.m. session.

He is also preparing bills to be filed on the same day.

4 years too late

Dressed in a barong, Pimentel arrived at the Sofitel hotel in Pasay City with his family and political supporters shortly before the SET was to convene at 12:30 p.m. in a closed-door meeting.

Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is holding office in the nearby Coconut Palace, arrived about an hour later to show support for his PDP-Laban party mate.

Pimentel said he was “very happy and relieved” now that he had won in his four-year-old protest against Zubiri, who ran in the administration ticket in 2007.

“[The feeling is] indescribable,” he told reporters after his proclamation led by Carpio, which was held shortly before 3 p.m.

“It’s finally over, but the reality is I have only two years left. I need to work double-time. I should hit the ground running.”

Pimentel described the SET decision as a “milestone” and volunteered to be part of the Senate contingent in the tribunal. He said his experience in the election protest had exposed him to certain “loopholes” in the process.

“I hope this would infect the other institutions in delivering justice in our country. It can be done,” he said. “My only request is that we find ways to do it more speedily.”

Told that Zubiri’s resignation had helped expedite the resolution of his son’s election protest, former Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said Zubiri “should have done that four years ago.”

Final count

The final and official SET count showed Pimentel leading Zubiri by 258,166 votes. Pimentel received a total of 10,898,786 votes, and Zubiri, 10,640,620.

Pimentel’s lead easily overwhelmed Zubiri’s 19,292 lead in the Commission on Elections’ Senatorial Canvass Report No. 30, which had him missing the cut at 13th place.

The new senator said he did not join the 2010 senatorial election because “I knew as early as 2008 that I had won.”

He said he would seek a second term in the 2013 elections, which Zubiri had also said he would join.

Based on the SET’s examination of the contested ballots, Zubiri lost a total of 365,246 votes, and 88,561 votes were deducted from Pimentel.

Guevarra said the tribunal had examined a total of 384,680 ballots, of which 314,869 were rejected.

Of the rejected ballots, 254,222 were considered “spurious.”

A total of 47,589 genuine ballots were also rejected after the SET found that many of them were “written by one person.”

Warning to people

Pimentel flew to Davao Oriental after his proclamation in time for his oathtaking in Mati City on Friday (today).

Speaking with reporters, Bing Pimentel described her son’s victory as “divine justice.”

She said Zubiri would not have been forced to resign if not for the admission of two key elections officials that there was massive cheating in the province of Maguindanao in 2007.

“This should serve as a warning to those in power—you cannot fool the people,” she said.

Said Pimentel’s wife Jewel: “Let us all learn from this experience, that we should not allow anyone to cheat and steal our votes. Let’s move forward.”

Malacañang, through President Aquino’s deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte, sent its congratulations to the new senator.

“We congratulate Senator Pimentel. At the very least, the people’s mandate has been served,” Valte said in a text message.

Pimentel and Mr. Aquino ran in the same Genuine Opposition senatorial ticket in 2007. Mr. Aquino placed sixth in the race for 12 Senate seats. With a report from Norman Bordadora