MAY ELECTIONS A CHANCE TO CORRECT MINDANAO’S UNDER REPRESENTATION

MANILA -- Genuine Opposition senatorial candidate Aquilino "Koko"
Pimentel has underscored the importance of increased representation of
Mindanao in the 24-man Senate as part of the peace and development
process in the country's second biggest island-group.

Pimentel said even if he and three administration senatorial aspirants
from Mindanao – Prospero Pichay, Juan Miguel Zubiri and Sultan Jamalul
Kiram – will all win in the May elections, Mindanao will still be
under-represented in the Upper Chamber.

"I believe that Mindanao is entitled to have more members in the
Senate in proportion to its population and contributions to the
national economy," he told a dinner-forum organized by the Philippine
Business Leaders Forum and the Philippine Council for Islam and
Democracy at the Manila Polo Club in Makati City.

At present only Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr., Koko's
father, is representing Mindanao in the Senate. Since 1998, the Muslim
community has had no representative in the Senate.

The young Pimentel, the lone senatorial contender from Mindanao, said
that since Mindanao accounts for more than a fourth of the Philippine
population, it should logically have at least six members in the
Senate.

Pimentel emphasized that the problem of lack of Muslim representation
can be addressed by adopting the old proposal for the election of
senators by regions.

He said it is no exaggeration to say that the lack of Muslim voice in
the Senate and other decision and policy-making bodies in the national
government is one of the reasons why Muslims feel like they are
second-class citizens in the republic and why the insurgency problem
in Mindanao has persisted for several decades now.

Pimentel pledged to focus on the peace and development agenda in
Mindanao if he is elected to the Senate.

He said he has drawn up his Mindanao agenda which includes promotion
of peace, maintenance of law and order, creation of a Mindanao
Development Authority, development of agriculture and fisheries
resources, expansion of trade with neighboring countries, making
Mindanao the science center of the country, protection and
preservation of the environment, raising the level of harmony and
understanding among the Muslims and conserving the ethnic or tribal
customs and traditions of indigenous peoples of Mindanao.
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Intramuros, Manila
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