Mali ang naging hakbang ni Pimentel - Adel Tamano

Matapos ang halalan at hiwa-hiwalay na ang Genuine Opposition senatorial team, nagpahayag ang tagapagsalita ng grupo na hindi siya sang-ayon sa mga ginawang hakbang si Aquilino “Koko" Pimentel III upang makuha ang ika-12 pwesto sa Senado. Para kay Adel Tamano, nagtapos ng abogasya sa Harvard Law School sa Amerika, mali ang ginawang istratehiya ni Pimentel laban kay Juan Miguel Zubiri sa Commission on Elections at sa Korte Suprema. “Pañero, you and I are on the same Genuine Opposition team and naturally I am rooting for you but your approach to this situation has been, for the most part, wrong. First, you have been pursuing this as a purely legal battle. It is not. It is, more important, a battle for public opinion, for the hearts and minds of both your supporters and detractors," paliwanag ni Tamano kay Pimentel sa column niya nitong Martes sa dyaryong The Daily Tribune. Dapat sana, ayon kay Tamano, ipinaliwanag ni Pimentel sa mga tao ang mga kumplikadong usaping legal tungkol sa kaso. Pinaalalahanan ni Tamano si Pimentel na karamihan sa mga Filipino ay hindi abogado, kung kaya hindi lahat ay nakakaintindi ng mga legal principles gaya ng “estoppel", “statistical improbability", o ang “Lagumbay doctrine." “Frankly, Juan de la Cruz does not care a whit about these concepts. What he wants to know is how election fraud affects him personally, how it destroys his mandate and his right to choose his leaders," dagdag niya. Sinabi rin ni Tamano na ang laban niya sa eleksyon ay hindi lamang dapat para sa kanya, na siyang ipinakita ni Pimentel sa publiko. “Again, it is not about you the mandate that has been abused, disregarded, and degraded is the people’s mandate. You have to show the public that you are fighting for their rights, their interests, not merely for your own self-interest. Stop talking about you being cheated; it is the people who have been cheated," sabi ni Tamano. Pinayuhan rin nito si Pimentel na pagkatiwalaan ang kanyang mga abogado imbes na siya mismo ang magtanggol sa kanyang sarili “because you will not have the clarity and objectivity needed to win." Sinabihan niya rin ang tumakbong senador na huwag masyadong mawalan ng pag-asa at lumabas na mukhang seryoso at palaban sa harap ng media. “So chill out. You may have lost some battles but the war isn’t over just yet," payo ni Tamano kay Pimentel. Sa kabilang banda, sinabi ni Tamano na dapat ay magpakita ng “character" si Zubiri at tanggihan ang pagkapanalo nito sa eleksyon, lalo pa’t may duda ng dayaan na naganap sa Maguindanao. Ayon kay Tamano, ang impresyon nito kay Zubiri, at mula na rin sa kanyang mga kaibigan, ay siya ay “honest", “well-mannered", “God-fearing", at “devoted to family." “All these descriptions of you lead me to believe that you are too decent to accept a tainted mandate. You should realize that accepting the results from Maguindanao will contaminate the mandate of millions of people who have supported you. Your supporters deserve better. You deserve better," pasaring nito kay Zuniri. “You still have a bright future ahead of you but, as with all things in life, this issue regarding Maguindanao will be a real test of character for you. Call me naive but I continue to pray for you that you will rise up to the challenge and refuse to accept a ‘victory’ that includes a tainted mandate," dagdag pa niya. - Mark J. Ubalde, GMANews.TV