Return to Senate ‘a vindication’ — Zubiri

Senator-elect Juan Miguel Zubiri said his return to the Senate this year is a “vindication” after a controversial first term cut short and a failed bid in the last elections.

Zubiri ranked sixth in this year's senatorial race with some 16.1 million votes, a definite bounce from losing in the 2013 midterm polls and his contested 12th-place finish in 2007.

Questions over the said win, brought before the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET), moved him to resign in 2011. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel, who contested his win of only 18,519 votes, was eventually proclaimed senator. 

“It's a sweet victory for me, a sort of vindication. Ako po'y nanalo ng kontrobersyal na panalo noong 2007, nag-resign nu'ng 2011, natalo nu'ng 2013. Wala na po akong plano dapat na bumalik sa politika, pero naudyok po ako ng marami nating kababayan na lumaban muli dahil sa ating track record na walang bahid ng dungis,” Zubiri said after he and 11 others were proclaimed senators on Thursday afternoon.

In a separate interview with GMA News Online, the returning senator credits his win to the public's “perception” of him and his work.

“Sa tingin ko nakita rin ng taumbayan na pagdating po ng kontrobersiya sa Senado—'yung Napoles scam, maybe 'yung mga absent doon sa Kongreso—nakita po nila na ako walang absent, ako walang issue of corruption. Siguro sabi nila, ‘Mabait pala itong si Migz Zubiri,’” he said.

He added: “Natutuwa ako at nagpapasalamat. It was not a difficult campaign for me. I still went around about 57 provinces, but mostly it was a tri-media campaign.”

Zubiri said he values such perception and vows not to let his supporters down.

“Ultimately, kapag gusto ng tao sa'yo, hindi mo na maiiba 'yun. Pinangangalagaan ko 'yun, 'yung perception ng tao sa'yo napakahalaga noon. I thank them for that. Hindi ko sila bibiguin. If I worked double time the last time, I will work triple time this time,” he said.

The senator, who is part of a political family in Bukidnon, also expressed his support for incoming President Rodrigo Duterte, who also hails from Mindanao. — BAP, GMA News