Koko Pimentel

Aquilino Martin de la Llana Pimentel III (born January 20, 1964), commonly known as Koko Pimentel, is a Filipino politician and lawyer serving as the Senate Minority Leader since 2022.

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.

Pimentel began working as a lawyer in 1990, and was commissioner (representing Mindanao) on the National Youth Commission from 1995 to 1998.

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.

Pimentel ran for Cagayan de Oro city mayor in the 2001 elections but lost to Vicente Emano.

He was a professor for the University of the East College of Law from 2007 to 2010 and also for the JD–MBA 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.

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.

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.

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.

On July 14, 2007, Zubiri was proclaimed as the 12th winning senator.

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.

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.

He has been a Senator since 2011 and previously served as the Senate President of the Philippines from 2016 to 2018.

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.

He was sworn in on August 12, 2011, and was proclaimed as the 12th winning senator in the 2007 election.

Pimentel was one of the high-ranking public officials who drew flak for breaching the COVID-19 quarantine protocols.

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.

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.

He was conferred Doctor of Humanities honoris causa by the Polytechnic University of the Philippines on May 18, 2012.

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.

Pimentel was included in the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) coalition's shortlist of senatorial candidates for the 2013 election.

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.

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".