Koko says he now sleeps more soundly

MANILA, Philippines - After announcing his decision to split from the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) as a candidate for the 2013 mid-term elections, Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III remarked that he can now sleep more soundly.

Interviewed over radio dzRH, Pimentel admitted he had a heavy heart during the entire period as he considered what to do as far as his plans for reelection in 2013 are concerned.

Ever since the leadership of UNA announced they would be including former senator Juan Miguel Zubiri as one of its candidates, Pimentel said he opposed the idea.

He said his original position against the entry of Zubiri to UNA never changed and eventually led to his decision not to join the UNA senatorial ticket.

“My original position when I learned that UNA wanted to include Zubiri was that it did not sound right. This duet did not sound right. My advocacy is against election fraud so this did not sound right,” Pimentel said.

Pimentel filed an electoral protest against Zubiri after the latter was declared the 12th winning senator in the 2007 elections.

In his petition before the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET), Pimentel claimed that votes were taken away from him, particularly in some provinces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The SET eventually found evidence that votes were manipulated in the ARMM and several candidates benefited from the scheme, including Zubiri.

Zubiri, who filed a counter-protest against Pimentel, maintained he never took part in electoral fraud and he was just an unwitting beneficiary of the scheme.

Even before the SET came out with its ruling declaring Pimentel as the rightful winner of the 12th Senate seat in the 2007 polls, Zubiri resigned and withdrew his complaint against Pimentel.

Zubiri said he decided to resign after hearing about the witnesses who came out and confirmed there was cheating.

The leaders of UNA, namely former President Joseph Estrada, Vice President Jejomar Binay and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, all accepted Zubiri’s explanation that he was not aware of the cheating that took place and he was never involved in any of the manipulations.

After informing Estrada of his decision to move out, Pimentel said he feels happier.

“I felt better. I felt that the burden that I was carrying was taken away from me,” he said. – With Marvin Sy