Sen. Pimentel III to lead poll fraud probe

MANILA, Philippines – A certified victim of electoral fraud who in the end came out victorious will lead the Senate’s investigation into alleged cheating in the 2004 and 2007 elections.

Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Friday said his committee on electoral reforms would conduct the inquiry jointly with the blue ribbon committee headed by Senator Teofisto Guingona III.

Pimentel said he was open to inviting to the investigation former Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, with whom he waged a four-year battle for the right to claim a seat in the upper house.

Zubiri resigned last August 3, a week before the Senate Electoral Tribunal proclaimed Pimentel as the rightful winner of the 12th and final slot in the 2007 senatorial election.

“I’m open to inviting him [to the inquiry] to see what he knows,” Pimentel said in a press conference.

Pimentel has shot down calls that he should inhibit from the investigation, considering that he himself was involved in an election protest against Zubiri.

“I see no reason why I should inhibit,” he said. “I’m also just as interested as the common man to find out the truth: Who cheated? How did they perpetrate cheating in 2004 and 2007?”

Pimentel said the investigation would start after the blue ribbon committee has completed its inquiry into the sale of pre-owned choppers, but were passed off as brand-new, to the Philippine National Police in 2009.

He said the inquiry would be independent from the joint investigation to be conducted by the Commission on Elections and the Department of Justice. He said his committee was now collecting affidavits and other documents in preparation for the probe.

“Those who want to execute affidavits, they can now come to us,” he said.

Pimentel said the committees might also invite campaign managers, not just candidates, to help determine the extent of alleged cheating in the previous elections.

“I feel that some of the candidates incorporated cheating with their campaign strategy,” he said.