Bill seeking ARMM polls’ postponement sent to archive, then retrieved

MANILA, Philippines – A bill postponing the August 2011 Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has been sent to the archive of the Senate but immediately brought back for plenary discussions.

In a privilege and collective speech on Tuesday, Senator Ferdinand “Bong-Bong” Marcos Jr, chairman of the committee on local government that conducted the hearings on the issue with the committee on constitutional amendments, reported on the floor on Tuesday the committees’ “unfavorable” decision against the postponement.

Under Section 30 of the Senate rules, an “unfavorable” recommendation by a committee on a measure would automatically bring it to the Senate archive and would require at least five senators to retrieve the measure out of it.

But it was Marcos himself, after explaining why the committees had an adverse finding against the postponement, who moved for the retrieval of the measure.

Six senators, including Marcos, voted for the retrieval of the measure.