And then there was one.
After more than a month of counting votes, canvassing CoC's from all over the country, accusations of massive cheating on the polls by both parties in different provinces, 130 poll related deaths and 11 senatorial seats taken,only one remains to be filled. From here you could just here Koko Pimentel and Miguel Zubiri scrambling for it like playing musical chairs but this time it's for aspiring senators. And the song they're playing says, "From Maguindanao, with love."
With time running out for Pimentel and the votes swinging at Zubiri's favor, he's buying all his options to win this seat including his petition to the Supreme Court to stop the canvassing of the Maguindanao votes. Official Comelec tallies shows that without the Maguindanao votes Pimentel's lead over Zubiri amounts to 111,000 which puts him in the Senatorial Magic 12 but with the disputed votes, Zubiri would officially win the coveted 12th senatorial seat. Thus making him richer for the next six more years (how's that for the former spice boy of the congress?).
While Pimentel is asking for the Maguindanao votes to be disregarded (probably because he lost there, duh), Zubiri (naturally) is asking for the votes to be officially tallied in with the rest of the country's. But the authenticity of the provincial tallies do stir in some doubts to the mix with 19 of the "senatoriables", mostly opposition candidates, didn't even receive a single vote. The Genuine Opposition claims that this is statistically improbable (but heck, at the back of their minds I could hear them saying that this is politically very probable) like what happened in a Pangasinan town in the May 2004 where FPJ received no votes.
The balance now hangs in the Task Force being lead by Commisioner Abalos of Comelec (Good luck with that Atty. Pimentel). With the COC's and all the election documents being manipulated er, checked for authenticity in General Santos, they would be the sole judge to whom will the last chair be awarded when the music stops, however loud Pimentel is crying of massive cheating at the polls and Zubiri fervently praying for a miracle.
But then again, we all know that in this country, during these moments, miracles, like a President speaking to God, do happen.
With time running out for Pimentel and the votes swinging at Zubiri's favor, he's buying all his options to win this seat including his petition to the Supreme Court to stop the canvassing of the Maguindanao votes. Official Comelec tallies shows that without the Maguindanao votes Pimentel's lead over Zubiri amounts to 111,000 which puts him in the Senatorial Magic 12 but with the disputed votes, Zubiri would officially win the coveted 12th senatorial seat. Thus making him richer for the next six more years (how's that for the former spice boy of the congress?).
While Pimentel is asking for the Maguindanao votes to be disregarded (probably because he lost there, duh), Zubiri (naturally) is asking for the votes to be officially tallied in with the rest of the country's. But the authenticity of the provincial tallies do stir in some doubts to the mix with 19 of the "senatoriables", mostly opposition candidates, didn't even receive a single vote. The Genuine Opposition claims that this is statistically improbable (but heck, at the back of their minds I could hear them saying that this is politically very probable) like what happened in a Pangasinan town in the May 2004 where FPJ received no votes.
The balance now hangs in the Task Force being lead by Commisioner Abalos of Comelec (Good luck with that Atty. Pimentel). With the COC's and all the election documents being manipulated er, checked for authenticity in General Santos, they would be the sole judge to whom will the last chair be awarded when the music stops, however loud Pimentel is crying of massive cheating at the polls and Zubiri fervently praying for a miracle.
But then again, we all know that in this country, during these moments, miracles, like a President speaking to God, do happen.
