MANILA - Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III on Thursday said it was "settled" in his mind that he can seek re-election next year because he did not serve his first term in full.

"The doctrine in election law is that if there are term limits, the law assumes that the term was served in full. If the term was interrupted or has not been served in full, it is not actually a term. Therefore, you cannot count that for purposes of term limits," he told ANC's Headstart.

Pimentel was declared the 12th winning senator from the 2007 elections on August 2011 after a tribunal ruled in his favor in the electoral protest against Juan Miguel Zubiri, who resigned from the post after witnesses claimed massive poll fraud in Maguindanao.

"Is that a term? For local government officials, the Supreme Court has already decided for those who won their protests, they did not serve a term if the term was initiated by a victory in an election protest," said Pimentel.