Koko Pimentel

The Honorable Aquilino "Koko" L. Pimentel III
Senator Koko Pimentel
Senator of the Philippines
Incumbent
Assumed office August 11, 2011
show Senate committee chairmanships Chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Incumbent Assumed office July 23, 2019 Preceded by Loren Legarda Chair of the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship Incumbent Assumed office May 25, 2018 Preceded by Juan Miguel Zubiri Chair of the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People's Participation In office July 24, 2018 – July 22, 2019 Preceded by Leila de Lima Succeeded by Imee Marcos In office July 22, 2013 – July 25, 2016 Preceded by office created Succeeded by Leila de Lima Chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights In office July 22, 2013 – July 25, 2016 Preceded by Francis Escudero Succeeded by Leila de Lima
22nd President of the Senate of the Philippines
In office July 25, 2016 – May 21, 2018
Preceded by	Franklin Drilon
Succeeded by	Tito Sotto
National Youth Commission Commissioner for Mindanao
In office 1996–1998
Personal details
Born	Aquilino Martin de la Llana Pimentel III (1964-01-20) January 20, 1964 (age 57) Cagayan de Oro, Philippines
Nationality	Filipino
Political party	PDP–Laban (1990–present)
Spouse(s)	Jewel May Lobaton ​ ​ (m. 2000; sep. 2012)​ Kathryna Yu ​ (m. 2018)​
Children	3
Parents	Aquilino Pimentel Jr. Lourdes de la Llana-Pimentel
Alma mater	Ateneo de Manila University (B.S.) University of the Philippines Diliman (LL.B.)
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Lawyer and Lecturer
Net worth	₱36.3 million[1] (Dec. 31, 2019)

Aquilino Martin de la Llana Pimentel III (born January 20, 1964),^[2] commonly known as Koko Pimentel, is a Filipino politician and lawyer currently serving as a Senator of the Philippines. He was the 28th Senate President of the Philippines from 2016 to 2018.^[3][4] He is also the current 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.^[5] He was sworn in on August 12, 2011 and was proclaimed as the 12th winning senator in the 2007 election.^[6] Pimentel was one of the first ranking public officials who drew flak for breaching COVID-19 quarantine protocols in the Philippines.^[7]

Early life and education[]

Aquilino Martin de la Llana Pimentel III was born on January 20, 1964 in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines.^[8][9] 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.^[9]

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.^[8][9] He topped the 1990 Philippine Bar Examinations with a score of 89.85 percent.^[10]

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.^[8] He was conferred Doctor of Humanities honoris causa by the Polytechnic University of the Philippines on May 18, 2012.^[11]

Political career[]

2001 election[]

Pimentel ran for Cagayan de Oro City mayor in the 2001 elections but lost to Vicente Emano.^[12]

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.^[13]

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.^[14][15]

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.^[14] On July 14, 2007, Zubiri was proclaimed as the 12th winning senator.^[15]

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.^[16][17]

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.^{[18][dead link]}

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.^[19]

On August 11, 2011, the Senate Electoral Tribunal released the final tally: Pimentel got 10,898,786 votes while Zubiri got 10,640,620.^[20] 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.^[21]

On August 11, 2011, Pimentel was proclaimed by the Senate Electoral Tribunal as the rightful winner of the 12th senate seat.^[22] On August 12, Pimentel took his oath of office before his supporters in Mati, Davao Oriental, where he received a high number of votes.^[23]

2013 election[]

Pimentel (top left) during President Rodrigo Duterte's 2016 State of the Nation Address.

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.^[24] Instead, Pimentel ran under the Team PNoy coalition, composed mostly of supporters of then-President Benigno Aquino III.^[25] Pimentel was elected to the Senate of the Philippines, placing eighth with 14,725,114 votes.^[26]

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.^[27] 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 November 13, 2000 to July 23, 2001).^[28]

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,"^[29]

In May 2017, Pimentel led 15 senators who supported Proclamation No. 216 which placed the whole of Mindanao under Martial Law.^[30] 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".^[31]

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.^{[citation needed]}

Covid-19 quarantine protocol breach (2020–2021)[]

On March 25, 2020, Pimentel announced that he tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), amid the pandemic in the Philippines.^[32] Earlier on March 12, multiple senators began practicing self-quarantine as a precaution against the virus, and also because one of the resource persons who attended the Senate session on March 5 tested positive for the disease.^[33][34] On March 16, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19, which marked Pimentel, along with other senators, as "patients under monitoring" (the official designation by the Department of Health, abbreviated as "PUM").^[35] Pimentel took the COVID-19 test on March 20.^[36][37] At the time Pimentel confirmed his diagnosis, he had visited the Makati Medical Center to accompany his wife. The Makati Medical Center issued a press release criticizing Pimentel for violating the hospital's home quarantine protocol, which required PUMs to self-isolate in order to avoid exposing health professionals and other patients to possible infection.^[38][39] On May 2, 2020, Pimentel considered himself as a "recovered person" as his staff told him after his sample was tested negative of coronavirus, but not yet confirmed by the Department of Health.^[40]

Referring to his actions in violation of the COVID-19 community quarantine, an editorial column from the Inquirer dated March 27, 2020 labeled him as "poster boy of entitlement and recklessness".^[41] A popular actress and activist, Angel Locsin, expressed regret in endorsing Pimentel during the 2007 elections, calling it a "mortal sin".^[42]

The National Bureau of Investigation probed Pimentel over his possible breach of the quarantine protocols. The Department of Justice will issue a subpoena for him regarding the breach sometime in mid-April 2020.^[43][44] Former dean, lawyer Rico Quicho filed a complaint against the senator for allegedly violating Republic Act No. 11332.^{[45][needs update]}

On January 21, 2021, the Department of Justice (DoJ) has dismissed for lack of probable cause the complaint against Pimentel over his alleged quarantine breach. The Prosecutor General said that the complaint was fatally defective as it was relied on hearsay.^[46][47] The dismissal of complaints against Pimentel for allegedly violating quarantine regulations has cast doubt on the government's seriousness about implementing protocols amid the COVID-19 pandemic according to Atty. Quicho. He adds that the "dismissal by the DoJ of the quarantine breach complaint filed against Pimentel places into serious doubt the government's commitment to exact accountability from those who willfully or negligently put the lives of our front liners in danger.” Quicho also asked, "is there a different set of rules for Mr. Koko Pimentel, the powerful and the privileged, and a different set for the fish vendor, the weak, the forgotten and the ‘unimportant’?^[48]

Personal life[]

His sister, Gwendolyn Pimentel-Gana was appointed in 2015 as a commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights.^[49]

In January 2000, Pimentel married 1998 Miss Universe Philippines Jewel May Lobaton, with whom he has two sons.^[50] Lobaton is a distant cousin of fellow senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, who happens to be Pimentel's political rival.^[51] Pimentel and Lobaton have been living separately since November 2011.^[52] They officially separated in May 2012.^[53]

In May 2013, Pimentel met chef Kathryna Yu, and they married in October 2018 at the Coconut Palace. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio officiated the wedding, while President Rodrigo Duterte, Secretary Bong Go, Senate President Tito Sotto, Senator Manny Pacquiao and former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez were principal sponsors. Yu currently heads PDP Cares.^[54][55][53] During his first wedding anniversary with Yu, Pimentel announced that they were expecting their first child together.^[56] Their daughter, Helena, was born on March 29, 2020.^[57]

References[]

External links[]

• Aquilino Martin “Koko” dela Llana Pimentel III – Senate of the Philippines
• Official website