The seat was previously given to Miguel Zubiri, an ally of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Zubiri resigned from his post amidst the allegations that there were massive election frauds in ARMM where he got his majority votes.
Based on the information provided by the Senate Electoral Tribunal, the final votes for Koko Pimentel and Miguel Zubiri are as follows
Previous tally------- Revised Tally
Pimentel
10,987,347------------10,898,786
Zubiri
11,005,866------------10,640,620
The SET also found out that 60 percent of the total votes from the seven provinces in ARMM were forged. According to the SET spokeswoman, 15.11% of the ballots from ARMM were written by only one person. 3.46% showed only two distinct writing styles and 0.27% of these were marked ballots.
Senator Koko Pimentel took his oath at Mati City in Davao Oriental where he got a major support during the May 2007 elections.
Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III will report to the Senate on Monday. The newly proclaimed senator wants to focus on bills related to electoral reforms, overseas Filipino workers’ welfare, justice, and Mindanao.
