Justice, denied for four years to one, Aquilino Martin Pimentel III, was finally served on Thursday, 12 August, 2011.
Pimentel was officially declared the 12th duly elected senator in the 2007 elections in this country by the Senate Electoral Tribunal chaired by Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.
The dogged frenzy with which the new senator pursued his protest against Juan Miguel Zubiri, his closest rival in that penultimate Senate slot and the one officially declared Senator after the counting and canvassing of votes in that election finally paid off as he reported for work at the Senate of the Philippines on Monday, August 15, 2011. Pimentel has only two years to prove his mettle as lawmaker. Zubiri sat on his Senate chair for four years.
‘Indescribable’ daw ang feeling, sabi ni new Sen. Koko (Pimentel’s nickname) matapos syang mai proclaim na senador. I can just imagine. Pero for an ordinary layman, hihimay- himayin pa nya ito- ano kaya ang naging pakiramdam nya noon tuwing malalagay sa mga balita sa pahayagan si Zubiri na nag- introduce ng this and that bill, nakipag diskusyon sa mga ‘kapwa’ lawmakers, umapir sa mga society pages attending social/ official functions, and enjoying the trappings that go with a Philippine senator’s position? Gigil kaya sya, lumuluha, or nagkikibit- balikat at bubulung- bulong na nagsasalitang- ‘peke ka, kapal ng mukha mo!’?; kani- kanino din kaya sya nakapangutang para matustusan ang Php10million na kinailangan para sa pag- usad ng kanyang protesta- pamilya? Mga barkada? Nagsanla kaya ng mga lupain? O kumagat sa 5-6?
Walang kaduda- duda however ang kanyang conviction na siya ang tunay na nagwagi…at kailangang maibalik sa kanya ang posisyong ibinagay ng taong bayan noong 2007. And so, for 4 long years, Koko went through the anguish and challenges of fighting for his conviction- a man from the opposition trying to get back something that was truly his but is now being held by someone from the ruling camp in the national leadership- that is truly not an easy job.
In its 36 – page decision, the Senate Election Tribunal stated that the resignation a week before of the man who sat in Koko’s Senate chair had nothing to do with the final decision.
In the final and official SET count, Pimentel led over Zubiri by 258, 166 votes. The Tribunal examined a total of 384, 680 ballots- 314, 869 of these were rejected for being either ‘spurious’ or have been found out to have been ‘written by one person.’
Koko’s long journey for justice began when he appealed to the Supreme Court to disenfranchise a part of the voting population of Mindanao because of widespread fraud and cheating during election day- this meant not counting the votes cast. The Supreme Court denied his appeal. Koko went back to the august body a second time appealing for a temporary restraining order in the official proclamation of Zubiri who got the 12th senatorial place (that was according to that time’s ‘official’ count). TRO denied.
Dumulog naman si Koko sa Senate Electoral Tribunal- he presented his case, showed where the election fraud took place, and submitted documents to prove this. His protest covered 2, 658 precincts in the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Norte, Sharif Kabunsuan, Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Sultan Kudarat and Sulu.
In 2009, nagpapresscon pa mandin si Koko announcing that he got enough votes na naitala na nang wasto ng SET. May counter protest naman din (di talaga pahuhuli ng buhay ang Pinoym hahaha) si Zubiri, senador na nang panahong iyon- dinaya din daw sya ni Koko sa ilan naming bahagi ng bansa. Pinalawig pa mandin ni Zuri ang protest coverage nya, 52,000 additional ballot boxes pa ang ipinabilang- umalma si SET Chair Tony Carpio- it will take 6 more years daw para mabilang ang mga ito- sabi tuloy nitong kapitbahay kong mahilig mag political analysis na wise din si Zubiri (natural!), gusto pa palang patagalin ang bilangan para siguro mairaos nya ang buong term at di bigyan ng katiting na pagkakataon si Koko.
It will take another 2 years for Koko to claim victory- all because of 2 whistleblowers who revealed the truth behind Koko’s allegations. Natinag din ang dating malalakas- natakot, ooops, teka lang.
Nagresign si Zubiri- baseless daw ang accusations- bakit naman magreresign. E di defend yourself and your honor! Sabi pa ng tatay ni Koko (former Senate President Nene Pimentel)- dapat 4 years ago pa sya nagresign!Other lawmakers led by Sen Juan Ponce Enrile ay nagbigay papuri naman kay Zubiri- gentlemanly daw ang ginawa nito- kayo po dyan, ano po ang masasabi nyo? Basta for Bing Pimentel, Koko’s mother- this is ‘divine justice’, Di magwawagi ang kasamaan kailanman, wika niya.
O hala, itigil na ang diskusyon. Antayin natin ang susunod na senatorial elections- mukhang magiging very interesting- kakandidato sa pagkasenador si Zubiri at mukhang pinag- iisipan nio Koko na makipagsapalaran para sa another term. Sino kaya ang magkakaroon ng kredibilidad between the 2 of them? Hahaha, gumagamit na ng utak ang Pinoy ngayon, oy!
Even if Koko knows ‘bitin’ ang 2 years e bakit ba hindi, magdo double time daw sya- bills to present, membership in the SET kung papayagan dahil marami daw syang maitutulong based on his experience- there’s justice naman pala, ang kailangan lang ay mapadali, yan ang nabanggit nya.
Request naman ng iba, ‘maging mabuting senador sana siya- hwag sipsep, ha? Katandem kasi nya ang ating Presidente noon sa Genuine Opposition way back 2007. Baka daw as member of the majority party ay oo na lang ng oo si Koko. I don’t think so.
Let’s wish our new Senator all the best- may he champion the people’s cause all the way!
THANK YOU, TORONTO!
