Pimentel family full force for Koko’s imminent proclamation

The family of Aquilino “Koko" Pimentel III on Thursday expressed relief that his four-year-old fight for a Senate post is finally drawing to an end. Former Senate President Aquilino “Nene" Pimentel Jr. said he was happy that his son’s electoral protest “turned out well." “Hindi naman ito personal na laban... This is for the right of the people who expressed their views through the ballot na mabilang ng tama," he said on Thursday at Hotel Sofitel in Pasay City, where the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) is expected to proclaim his son’s victory in the 2007 polls. The SET will hand out the ruling after former Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri decided to drop the counter-protest a day after he resigned from his post amid allegations that he was the beneficiary of cheating during the 2007 elections. The younger Pimentel named Zubiri as respondent to an electoral protest filed before the SET in July 30, 2007. He claimed that his votes were shaved while Zubiri’s vote was padded in a total 2,658 precincts in Mindanao. Koko ranked 13th in the 2007 elections with 10,987,347 votes. Zubiri scraped through at 12th with 11,005,866 votes.

The elder Pimentel advised his son to always put the country first when he finally becomes senator. “[Gawin niya] kung ano yung ninanais ng bayan at hindi iyong para sa bulsa niya. I want to emphasize that," he said. “Kung ano ang ikabubuti ng bayan, ‘yun ang ipaglaban niya... This is such a big relief." Koko’s mother, Maria Lourdes, meanwhile, described the result of his son’s electoral process as an act of “divine justice." “Itong pangyayaring ito warning din para sa mga nasa kapangyarihan na hindi mo pwedeng itago kahit na ano. Hindi mo kayang lokohin ang kapwa mo. Ang Panginoon ay hindi natutulog. That’s what I call this divine justice," she said. Lorraine Pimentel, Koko’s younger sister, for her part hopes that his brother “will live up to the expectations." “He is very meticulous. I’m sure when he is studying the law, he will be nitpicky... He will fight for justice, importante ‘yun," she said. Koko’s three other sisters—Gwendolyn, Ma. Petrina and Teresa Lourdes—were also present in the hotel to await their brother’s proclamation. — KBK, GMA News