Zubiri’s dare; Neri’s nyet C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 07/19/2010

Zubiri’s dare; Neri’s nyet

C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 07/19/2010 Here’s what Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said about reports that his counter protest against lawyer Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel is unmeritorious and meant only to delay the decision on the latter’s protest and his inevitable proclamation as the 12th winning senator in the 2007 senatorial elections: “...I am not delaying this (Pimentel) protest. What I want to know is the truth... Why are we afraid to seek the truth... If the SET (Senate electoral Tribunal) does not find any more evidence of electoral fraud in Metro Manila then I will resign as senator...” Well, let’s see how this dare will play out given that the SET has taken all of three years (half of the contested term) to review the records and the ballots in 25 percent of the contested precincts identified by the parties as “...best exemplifying or demonstrating the electoral frauds pleaded by each of them; and the revision of the ballots and reception of the evidence shall begin with such pilot provinces or cities thus designated...” After such revision is conducted depending on whether the proclamation of the declared winner (in this case Zubiri) will be affected by the revised findings the tribunal may “...dismiss the protest, any counter protest or cross protest, as the case maybe, or all of them or require the parties to show cause why these should not be dismissed without further proceedings...” Based on the record, Zubiri’s pilot, that is his best, precincts, consisting of 18,227 precincts, yielded only a recovery of 11,948 votes which is less than one recovered vote per precinct. Since these are supposed to represent the best 25 precinct of his counter protested precincts the projected total recovery for the remaining 75 percent totaling 51,470 precincts of the 70,607 precincts he so designated for the purpose would yield a maximum of 33,794 more votes or a total recovery of 45,742 votes. Added to the 12,850-vote lead which he had over Pimentel in their hotly contested fight for the 12th slot in the 2007 elections that would translate to only a 58,592 lead.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100719com4.html

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