ARMM on postponement of polls: It’s all up to Congress
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:46:00 07/24/2008
COTABATO CITY, Philippines—Officials in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) said they didn’t want to disappoint President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo nor displease the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), so they are leaving it to Congress to decide whether or not to postpone the elections.
But the ARMM provincial governors and town mayors said in a manifesto that rescheduling the regional elections might not be that easy as it has to go through several processes, apart from congressional action.
They said that a provision of the Expanded Autonomy Law, or Republic Act 9054, requires the holding of a region-wide plebiscite to ratify any amendment to that law within 60 days after the President signs the amendment into law.
Press Secretary Jesus Dureza earlier said the President was keen on supporting a bill to be filed in Congress resetting the ARMM elections, originally scheduled for August, in the interest of the peace talks with the MILF.
The MILF has asked for the postponement, saying it was one of the agreements reached in Kuala Lumpur last week.
The government and the Muslim rebel group are expected to sign a peace agreement soon after a major breakthrough was reached recently. The agreement could mean the expansion of the ARMM to include 712 villages in Central Mindanao.
The other main Muslim insurgency, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and a few members of the Organization of Islamic Conference, an organization of influential Muslim countries, have also requested the postponement, said Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita. .
Dureza said it was not within the powers of the President to reset the elections but her endorsement could speed up the passage of a bill to that effect in Congress.
But even if Malacañang is supporting the move to postpone the ARRM elections, Ermita said the Commission on Elections should continue with preparations for what will be the first-ever automated polls in the country.
“If I were the Comelec, I will continue with the election preparations until I am furnished with the law postponing the ARMM polls,” Ermita told reporters.
In Zamboanga City, Comelec ARMM Director Teofisto Elnas Jr. said his office was now finalizing preparations for the elections.
“There is no law yet postponing or resetting the ARMM elections,” Elnas told reporters.
The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) in the ARMM has assured the readiness of their volunteers in case the ARMM polls push through as scheduled on Aug. 11.
‘99-percent’ sure
“We are very much prepared to act as the region’s poll watchdog next month,” said PPCRV regional head Fr. David Procalla.
He described the poll dry run conducted by the Commission on Elections last Tuesday to be fast, effective and accurate.
Philippine National Police Deputy Director Gen. Emmanuel Carta, who is also commander of the National Task Force ARMM election, said the police have already laid down the security plan.
Samira Usman, 40, an employee of the ARMM, said that with the President endorsing the postponement, it is now 99 percent sure that no elections will be held in August.
“The other one percent will come from Congress,” she said.
Ermita said that congressmen could file the bill for the postponement by the end of the week and this would likely be approved in the first week of August, or just a few days before the Aug. 11 election.
Representatives Pax Mangudadatu of Sultan Kudarat, Nur Jaafar of Tawi-tawi and Sulu Rep. Yusop Jikiri have reportedly promised to file a bill to reset the elections.
Mangudadatu and Jaafar chair the House committees on Mindanao and Muslim affairs, respectively.
But Deputy Speaker Simeon Datumanong has said that there was too little time left for Congress to amend the ARMM charter and reset the elections, explaining to local officials that an amendment would have to go through normal legislative processes.
He said aside from the committees on Muslim and Mindanao affairs, other committees—local governments and suffrage—have to go over the proposed bill or even file separate bills in both chambers.
ARMM officials—Governors Datu Andal Ampatuan (Maguindanao); Abdusakur Tan (Sulu); Sadikul Sahali (Tawi-Tawi); Jum Akbar (Basilan) and Mamintal Adiong Jr. (Lanao Sur)—met the President late Tuesday and early Wednesday at Camp Siongco in Maguindanao and presented their manifesto. Nash Maulana, Charlie Señase, Edwin Fernandez and Ed General, Inquirer Mindanao, and Christine O. Avendaño, Metro Manila
|
