MANILA – The eligibility of Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III to run for another term in the 2019 midterm elections has been questioned before the Commission on Elections.
Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio filed on Monday a disqualification case against Pimentel, saying the latter cannot run for senator against as he was already serving his second and maximum allowed consecutive term.
“Senator Pimentel is no longer eligible to run for another term in the Senate,” Topacio said. “Based on the Constitution, senators are prohibited from serving more than two consecutive terms.”
Pimentel in August 2011 was declared the 12th winning senator in the 2007 elections after a tribunal ruled in his favor in an election protest against Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri.
Zubiri resigned before the tribunal’s ruling as witnesses alleged massive election fraud in Maguindanao. He denied allegations that he knew about the cheating. Pimentel was re-elected in 2016.
Pimentel insisted that he was still eligible to seek another term since he did not serve his first term in full.
“The doctrine in election law is that, if there are term limits, the law assumes that the term was served in full,” he told ANC show “Headstart.” “If the term was interrupted or has not been served in full, it is not actually a term. Therefore, you cannot count that for purposes of term limits.”
Pimentel added: “Is that a term? For local government officials, the Supreme Court already decided for those who won their protests – they did not serve a term if the term was initiated by a victory in an election protest.”/PN
