Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri’s resignation is not subject to acceptance by the Senate, according to Atty. Aquilino Pimentel III, who has a protest against Zubiri’s proclamation in the 2007 national elections pending before the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET).
On GMA News’ State of the Nation, Pimentel said the mandate of senators comes not from the Senate but from the electorate, so Zubiri’s resignation “is addressed to the people."
He said it is only Zubiri’s counter-protest to his protest that has been rendered moot and academic.
Pimentel clarified that his protest still stands and to assume the vacated Senate seat, he needs the SET to proclaim him as the duly-elected Senator with a lead of 257,000 votes over Zubiri.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima agrees that Zubiri's resignation does not automatically mean Pimentel becomes the country’s newest senator “although it can speed up the process."
If the SET proclaims him as duly-elected senator, Pimentel has less than two years to serve before the next elections in 2013.
In the history of SET, no petitioner has ever won a protest. Cases were either dismissed or withdrawn.
Sen. Francis Pangilinan, a member of the SET, told GMA News Online that the body has not yet decided on the protest.
"Ballots (are) still being revised based on Zubiri's counter protest. That's the status of the SET case. No final decision is being prepared at this time," Pangilinan revealed Wednesday.
He refused to comment on what the next procedure is for the seat Zubiri has abandoned. "Let's just wait for developments if any," Pangilinan said.
Special polls not an option
Calling for special elections is not among the options of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) is considering, according to COMELEC chair Sixto Brillantes.
Brillantes ruled out holding a special election because the position Zubiri left cannot yet be considered vacant. He said Pimentel is still contesting that seat.
“In the first place, almost one half of the term is finished, or lampas na ng one half. And you don’t call a special election for senator because that will be a very, very expensive process, plus the fact that a protest case is still pending," Brillantes said.
Pimentel said he plans to ask the Senate Electoral Tribunal to speed up its resolution of the protest he filed now that Zubiri has resigned his post.
"Walang timetable ‘yan pero sa amin siguro as a lawyer ang basa ko ang resignation ng isang pinoprotesta dapat mapabilis sa protesta," he said.
Zubiri said hastening the resolution of the case was one of his intentions in resigning. "Pinadali ko lang ‘yung proseso," he said.
"It was against the wishes of our lawyers [pero] hindi ko na itutuloy ang counter-protest ko…As far as we are concerned, we are out of it," Zubiri declared.
However, Secretary De Lima said she has “yet to be convinced of the true [motive or motives] behind this surprising development."
She did acknowledge, however, that the resignation was a “a pleasant surprise for the cause of truth and electoral justice."
The DOJ and the Commission on Elections are set to begin a joint inquiry into the alleged fraud in the 2004 and 2007 elections.
"Zubiri's resignation, instead of foreclosing issues of electoral fraud in the 2007 elections, further throws them wide open for deeper investigation by the soon-to-be constituted DOJ/Comelec joint committee," De Lima said.
Pimentel claimed that in Maguindanao, all 12 candidates under the Arroyo administration’s Team Unity slate won while each of the 18 other senatorial candidates received zero votes in the entire province.
He argued that Zubiri’s votes from Maguindanao were “statistically improbable... I would say impossible."
Pimentel called the circumstances surrounding Zubiri’s resignation — such as former Maguindanao provincial election supervisor Lintang Bedol resurfacing — as “God’s hand at work."
He also added that he will seek “re-election" in the 2013 senatorial elections. “I’ll be available to run and it's my obligation to my party and myself to give me a chance to serve a full term as senator," he said.
Zubiri said he also plans to run again in 2013 and hopes to post a “convincing" victory. — With Paterno Esmaquel/VS,
