What happened to koko pimentel's senatorial protest?

Answer 1

Ducky Paredes Columns from Malaya and Abante - Edition 2009 - 291

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Koko and Migs

"Thus, the 'absurd' Zubiri claim of having been cheated in 18,316 precincts would assure that Migs will complete the six-year term of a Senator even when, clearly, Koko Pimentel should be sitting in Zubiri's senate seat!"

by Ducky Paredes
The latest count by the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) in the electoral protest filed by Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III against Sen. Miguel "Migs" Zubiri gives Pimentel a commanding lead of 65, 261 votes over Zubiri. This was in the 2007 elections, when Migs took the last slot with Koko in 13th place.
Now, after the Senate Electoral Tribunal finished counting the ballots in the 644 pilot precincts in nine Mindanao municipalities identified by Pimentel as those where the count was erroneous, Koko is actually much ahead.
When Zubiri was proclaimed, he held a lead of 19,292 votes over Pimentel, but his lead was down to 17,251 after Pimentel gained 773 votes from post-proclamation special elections and 1,268 votes more due to errors found in the ARRM regional vote total.
Pimentel's camp reached the net gain of 65,261 votes from the 644 pilot precincts - Zubiri lost a total of 69,177 votes and 3,916 votes was taken from Pimentel.
Koko says that, based on their projections, he also stands to gain additional votes of 31,097 in Sultan Kudarat, 3,422 votes in Matungao, Lanao del Norte and 4,032 votes in the ninth pilot municipality of Tapul, Sulu.
All of these are from the precincts identified by Koko Pimentel as those where he was cheated,
Now, the SET must look at the precincts identified by Migs Zubiri in his counter-protest. The SET is a long way off from finishing their count in the 18,316 precincts that Migs wants counted. This is 18 times the number of precincts protested by Pimentel - 644 vs. 18,316!
Koko says that the Zubiri counter-complaint is "absurd." Of course, it is; sadly, this is allowed by the rules of the electoral tribunal. Based on his claim, Zubiri, having been given only 84 days to present his evidence by the SET, has asked for 620 days! Not counting weekends and holidays when the canvassers will not be working, this will mean that the canvassing will not end until the last few months of the term that, in Pimentel's reckoning, should have been his. Thus, the "absurd" Zubiri claim of having been cheated in 18,316 precincts would assure that Migs will complete the six-year term of a Senator even when, clearly, Koko Pimentel should be sitting in Zubri's senate seat!"
How would Migs do that? All he needs is for his lawyers to file motions for reconsideration, temporary restraining orders (TRO) and such for him to complete the six-year term of a Senator. Koko's supporters argue that while a congressman shut out of his congressional seat is already a scandal, imagine that a senator represents not just one congressional district but is voted on by the whole nation; thus, 90 million persons are disenfranchised and under-represented because of Migs' delaying tactics.
Then, there are also cases of electoral fraud mentioned in the resolutions of the Senate Electoral Tribunal, which is composed of three justices of the Supreme Court and six senators chosen on the basis of proportional representation of political parties, represented in the. Senate.
The poll frauds pinpointed by the SET based on Pimentel's counter-protest were all committed in the provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Norte allegedly by fake voting syndicates.
SET Resolution's No. 07-27 dated July 17, 2008 ruled that 98.15% of the ballots cast in the first six of the nine pilot municipalities identified by Pimentel were found to be spurious and were thus nullified.
In Sultan Kudarat, a syndicate was found to have emptied 197 out of the 198 ballot boxes. The 198th ballot box contained 11 fake ballots. Wails Pimentel: "The facts speak for themselves. There were 39,327 registered voters in Sultan Kudarat, 37,904 of whom allegedly voted, of which 33,888 allegedly voted for Mr. Zubiri. But where are the ballots? They are all gone."
The Senate and the country as a whole should learn a lesson from these massive electoral frauds. If the country is to have clean and honest elections in 2010, the SET should immediately decide the Pimentel-Zubiri case to make sure that the lessons learned will be better appreciated.
The SET would be showing its patriotism and fidelity to the Constitution and our democratic principles if it decides the Pimentel-Zubiri case as soon as possible.
One problem may be that the SET as in HRET, in the Congress, are beholden to the protesting parties. As long as one party can produce the funds for the recount wherever he wants a recount, the SET and the HRET are duty-bound to accept recounts in these areas. Thus, when in the face of a clear loss, one party calls for recounts even in areas where he has clearly lost - fair and square - the SET cannot do anything but allow the unnecessary recount.
Still, Pimentel wondered what additional evidence Zubiri could possibly produce when the ballots in his own counter-protest failed to support his claim of being also a victim of poll fraud.
"If the ballots did not show any fraud committed against him (Zubiri), then what other evidence could possibly show the alleged fraud? I believe nothing can and nothing will," said Pimentel in a power point presentation to media.
"For in reality, Zubiri was not cheated. For in reality, Zubiri was the beneficiary of massive systematic cheating."
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"I would prefer even to fail with honor than to win by cheating." ~ Sophocles
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hvp 07.23.09)

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