Supreme Court denies petition to stop Congress from postponing ARMM polls

MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) The Supreme Court has dismissed the petition of a Mindanao-based lawyer to stop Congress from proceeding with its plan to postpone the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in August.

In a minute resolution issued Tuesday, the high court said the petition of lawyer Alex Macalawi of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Marawi Chapter, was premature because Congress have yet to act on the proposed bills-House Bill No. 4146 and Senate Bill No. 2756, both of which intend to synchronize the ARMM polls with the mid-term national elections in 2013.

Macalawi said the proposed bills violate both the constitution and RA 9333, which amended RA 9504, or the Organic Act of ARMM.

Macalawi, in his petition said that postponement of the polls would be a “corrupt customary practice”, so the schedule set by Commission on Elections on Aug. 8 should push through.

However, High Court Spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said the Supreme Court has yet to rule on a similar petition filed by Datu Michael Kida of the Maguindanao

Federation of Autonomous Irrigators Association.

Kida, in his petition said that the proposed postponement also “violates the principles of a democratic and republican state mandated by the Constitution, and the right of Muslims in the region to local autonomy.”

The petitioner said the proposed postponement “would deny the voters in ARMM their right to elect their officials for a period of two years, in violation of their right to equal protection of the law, which guarantees the right of all qualified citizens to participate in local government on an equal footing.”