November 13, 2000: Pimentel sworn in as Philippines Senate President

Pimentel sworn in as Philippines Senate President

2000 - Frank Drilon stepped down as Philippines Senate President, when 13 of 22 senators agreed that the post should be taken over by pro-administration Senator Aquilino Pimentel. Opposition Senator Sergio Osmena surprisingly joined pro-administration lawmakers in changing the leadership in the Upper House of Congress. Eight pro-administration senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Gregorio Honasan, Bias Ople, John Osmena, Tessie Oreta, Vicente Sotto, Francisco Tatad and Pimentel voted for the ruling party’s candidate. Senators Robert Jaworski, a former basketball star, former actor Ramon Revilla, and Nikki Coseteng, who recently quit the ruling party of President Joseph Estrada and were believed to have allied themselves with the opposition, trounced Drilon.

November 13

1832 - The first streetcar, a horse-drawn vehicle called the John Mason, goes into operation in New York City.

1913 - Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore wins the Nobel Prize in Literature.

1918 - Republic of Austria is proclaimed.

1927 - Holland Tunnel opens between New York and New Jersey.

1935 - US President Franklin Roosevelt proclaims the Philippines Islands a free commonwealth.

1940 - Walt Disney’s Fantasia opens in New York.

1970 - Hafez Al Assad seizes power in a bloodless coup in Syria.

1975 - World Health Organisation announces that Asia is free of smallpox for first time in history.

1988 - Palestinian National Council agrees unanimously on the draft of independent state declaration.

1995 - Israel pulls out troops from West Bank city of Jenin to end 28 years of occupation.

1999 - Peru signs an agreement with Chile to end a 120-year territorial dispute.

2000 - Philippines President Joseph Estrada becomes the first Philippines leader to be impeached.

2006 - Voters in South Ossetia overwhelmingly approve a referendum calling for independence from Georgia.

2008 - The UAE government appoints Fatima Saeed Obaid Al Awani as the first female marriage registrar in the UAE.

2010 - Pro-democracy hero Aung San Suu Kyi walks free after more than seven years under house arrest in Myanmar.

2011 - McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton wins Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix.

2012 - UAE government approves the draft for the Wudeema law to protect children’s rights.