Presentation

1. SENATOR OF THE
PHILIPPINES
SENATOR KOKO PIMENTEL

2. Koko Pimentel
• Aquilino Martin de la Llana Pimentel III (born January 20,
1964),[1] commonly known as Koko Pimentel, is a Filipino politician and
lawyer serving as the Senate Minority Leader since 2022. He has been
a Senator since 2011 and previously served as the Senate President of
the Philippines from 2016 to 2018.[2][3] He is also the national chairman of
Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP–Laban). As the
eldest son and third child of the former Senate President Aquilino
Pimentel Jr., he is the first child of a previous Senate president to hold the
office.[4] He was sworn in on August 12, 2011, and was proclaimed as the
12th winning senator in the 2007 election.[5] Pimentel was one of the
high-ranking public officials who drew flak for breaching the COVID-19
quarantine protocols.

3. Early life and education
• Aquilino Martin de la Llana Pimentel III was born on January 20, 1964,
in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines. His parents are Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. and
Lourdes de la Llana-Pimentel. His father was a lawyer
and dean of law at Xavier University at the time of his birth. The elder
Pimentel eventually became a senator.
• Pimentel earned his Bachelor of Science degree
in Mathematics from Ateneo de Manila University and his Bachelor of
Laws from University of the Philippines College of Law. He topped the
1990 Philippine Bar Examinations with a score of 89.85 percent.

4. Early career
• Pimentel began working as a lawyer in 1990, and was
commissioner (representing Mindanao) on the National Youth
Commission from 1995 to 1998. He was a professor for
the University of the East College of Law from 2007 to 2010 and
also for the MBA-JD Program of the Ramon V. del Rosario College
of Business and Far Eastern University Institute of Law from 2006
until his election to the senate in August 2011.[7] He was conferred
Doctor of Humanities honoris causa by the Polytechnic University
of the Philippines on May 18, 2012

5. Political career
• 2001 election
• Pimentel ran for Cagayan de Oro city mayor in the 2001 elections but lost
to Vicente Emano.
• 2007 election
• Running in only his second race in the May 14, 2007 senatorial elections,
Pimentel was narrowly defeated by Bukidnon Congressman Miguel
Zubiri for the 12th and last slot in the Philippine Senate. The narrow
margin of 18,372 votes was controversial, particularly the votes from the
southern Philippine province of Maguindanao, where Pimentel had lost
heavily to Zubiri.

6. Electoral protest
• In Philippine senatorial elections, the twelve candidates with the highest number of votes
nationwide are elected. In the 2007 elections, Pimentel (Genuine Opposition) and Juan Miguel
Zubiri (TEAM Unity) contested the 12th seat.[13][14]
• In the final tally for the 2007 senatorial elections by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC),
Zubiri narrowly defeated Pimentel for the 12th and last seat in the Senate. Zubiri had a total of
11,005,866 votes against Pimentel's 10,984,347 votes.[13] On July 14, 2007, Zubiri was
proclaimed as the 12th winning senator.[14]
• Claiming fraudulent votes in 22 municipalities of Maguindanao, 7 in Lanao del Norte, 3
in Shariff Kabunsuan, 2 in Basilan, 2 in Sultan Kudarat, 4 in Lanao del Sur, and 4 in Sulu,
Pimentel petitioned the Supreme Court to issue a restraining order against the proclamation of
Zubiri. With the vote tied at 7–7, the Supreme Court dismissed Pimentel's petition. But then-
Chief Justice Reynato Puno was among the seven justices who favored Pimentel's petition.

7. • On July 14, 2007, Pimentel filed an electoral protest to the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET).
After finding grounds for a recount, the SET proceeded with the protest.
• In July 2011, former Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol and
suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan revealed that
there was massive election fraud during the 2007 election.
• On August 11, 2011, the Senate Electoral Tribunal released the final tally: Pimentel got
10,898,786 votes while Zubiri got 10,640,620. Prior to this, on August 3, 2011, Zubiri resigned
from the Senate; however, he reiterated that he was not involved in the 2007 electoral fraud.[20]
• On August 11, 2011, Pimentel was proclaimed by the Senate Electoral Tribunal as the rightful
winner of the 12th senate seat. On August 12, Pimentel took his oath of office before his
supporters in Mati, Davao Oriental, where he received a high number of votes

8. 2013 election
• Pimentel was included in the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA)
coalition's shortlist of senatorial candidates for the 2013 election.
However, citing UNA's senatorial slate now having more than
twelve members and the inclusion of his longtime political
rival, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Pimentel officially declined his spot in the
UNA coalition on June 28, 2012. Instead, Pimentel ran under
the Team PNoy coalition, composed mostly of supporters of then-
President Benigno Aquino III. Pimentel was elected to the Senate
of the Philippines, placing eighth with 14,725,114 votes.

9. Senate President (2016–2018)
• On July 25, 2016, the opening day of the 17th Congress of the Philippines,
Pimentel was elected as Senate President with 20 out of 23 senators voting in
his favor. He, along with his father Aquilino Pimentel Jr., is the only father-and-
son tandem being elected as Senate President in Philippine history; the elder
Pimentel served as Senate President from 2000 to 2001.
• In November 2016, Pimentel told Palace Communications Secretary Martin
Andanar, "Review your history.", after Andanar referred to anti-Marcos protesters
who opposed the hero's burial of the late dictator as "temperamental brats".
Pimentel called the protestors "principled", adding that "they come from the
poorest sectors of society and therefore, cannot be labeled as "brats. They can
never be called brats. These are actually principled positions. So Martin Andanar
should review his history,"

10. • In May 2017, Pimentel led 15 senators who supported Proclamation No.
216 which placed the whole of Mindanao under Martial Law. Pimentel
also led 12 senators who voted against Resolution 390 calling on
Congress to convene a joint session to tackle the declaration of martial
law in Mindanao. This opinion was contradicted by Pimentel's father and
former Senate President, Nene Pimentel, who posited, "Within 48 hours
from declaration of martial law, President [Rodrigo] Duterte is obligated to
submit his report in writing or in person before the Senate and the House
in joint session".
• Pimentel resigned on May 21, 2018, in order to focus on his reelection bid
in the 2019 and was succeeded by Majority Leader Tito Sotto.