ZAMBOANGA CITY— For perhaps the first time ever in Mindanao, and in the Philippines for that matter, an election was held without a shot being fired. And the voters seemed to have been entertained, too.

Why wouldn’t they be?

The candidates included “Pierce Brosnan” (known for his James Bond 007 movie roles and his current hit “Mamma Mia!”) and a woman well loved for her magical voice, “Celine Dion.”

The only problem was that Tuesday’s political exercise was only a mock election intended to test the automated voting and counting systems that have been installed for the Aug. 11 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

“Brosnan” beat the likes of “Leonardo di Caprio” and “Mel Gibson” and emerged winner in the gubernatorial race.

“Celine Dion” ended up as his vice governor.

But the ARMM elections may not come to pass.

In a surprise move, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Tuesday endorsed the postponement of the ARMM elections in deference to peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said.

Certify to Congress

“After consultations with stakeholders, including ARMM officials, they have jointly arrived at a consensus that they will seek a postponement of the forthcoming elections,” he said.

Dureza said that Ms Arroyo would certify to both houses of Congress as urgent the needed bills resetting the polls.

“We leave that all to Congress,” Dureza told reporters in Shariff Kabunsuan province, adding that the President had no power by herself to postpone the polling.

In deference to peace talks

The House version of the bill will be authored by Representatives Pax Mangudadatu of Sultan Kudarat and Yusop Jikiri and Nur Jaafar of Sulu. The Senate version will be filed by Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, Dureza said.

Dureza admitted that the President’s decision to certify the bills as urgent was in deference to the “peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.”

“In the meantime, the Comelec’s preparation continues and candidates may continue their campaign activities,” he said.

The bills could be tackled when Congress resumes sessions after Ms Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address on July 28.

Kuala Lumpur

Dureza said the government and MILF peace panels would also resume talks on Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur, where they are expected to sign the final draft of an agreement ancestral domain.

Should the elections be postponed, the incumbent ARMM officials, led by Gov. Datu Zaldy Ampatuan, will continue serving in a holdover capacity, Dureza said.

Ghazali Jaafar, MILF vice chair for political affairs, said “it was a very welcome development ... It shows the government’s sincerity in solving the Mindanao problem.”

The MILF had asked for the postponement.

The lighter side of the day’s events was that based on the results of mock polls in five of six ARMM provinces, “Pierce Brosnan” obtained the winning tally of 115 votes (26.9 percent) out of 435 votes cast in the gubernatorial race.

“Celine Dion” captured 105 votes or 25 percent.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the officials decided to use the names of Hollywood stars in the polls to motivate registered voters into participating.

He said the tallies did not include the votes from Maguindanao, which used a different technology—the so-called Direct Recording Electronic (DRE), in which the voters simply touched the pictures of candidates they wished to vote for.

On the other hand, voters in Shariff Kabunsuan, Lanao del Sur, Marawi City, Basilan, Lamitan City, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi used the Optical Mark Reader (OMR) machines, where voters simply shaded the circle beside the candidate’s name.

Another diva

In the mock polls in Sulu, 94 of 100 registered voters showed up.

“Pierce Brosnan” won in Sulu with 35 votes, followed by “Kevin Costner” who garnered 23.

But another singing diva led the vice gubernatorial race in that province—“Mariah Carey” trounced “Celine Dion,” 26 votes to 23.

“Leonardo Di Caprio” and “Mel Gibson” also ran for governors.

“Pierce Brosnan” and “Celine Dion” also won in Shariff Kabunsuan. “Mariah Carey” landed third in the vice gubernatorial race in that province, behind King of Pop “Michael Jackson.”

Morales beats Pacman

In the race for legislative seats, megastar “Sharon Cuneta” topped the race in Shariff Kabunsuan with 21 votes. “Sarah Geronimo” trailed with 17.

In Sulu, “Sharon Stone” was at the bottom of the gubernatorial race, with only six votes.

And this one was for the books: Mexican boxer “Antonio Barrera” whipped “Manny Pacquiao” in the assembly race in Sulu.

Comelec Chair Jose Melo said he was satisfied with the mock polls, saying the results were “very, very accurate.” “The machine count matched the hand count,” he said. With reports from Julie S. Alipala, Nash B. Maulana, Ed General, Edwin O. Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao, and Michael Lim Ubac and Kristine L. Alave in Manila