Supreme Court urged to stop naming of OICs

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal on Monday petitioned the Supreme Court (SC) to issue a cease-and-desist order to stop Malacañang from appointing caretaker officials in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

“We are also reiterating our position that the ARMM election should not have been postponed and that President Aquino cannot appoint OICs (officers in charge),” Macalintal told reporters after he filed a 68-page memorandum.

“Our Constitution clearly states that ARMM officials should be elected, that’s why they are called representatives of the people,” he said.

“In other words, we are asking the Supreme Court to issue a status quo order in the event that the President appoints OICs pending the final determination of our (original) petition.”

The memorandum was in compliance with a Supreme Court order after Macalintal and his co-petitioners had questioned the constitutionality of Republic Act No. 10153.

Signed into law by President Aquino last month, the law deferred the ARMM elections from last Aug. 8 to May 2013.

In the memorandum, Macalintal said his opposition to RA 10153 “was not intended to be a personal attack on the President.”