Aquino gov’t ready to field bets in ARMM polls—Palace

MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang would field candidates in the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao if its bid for the postponement of the elections in the region fails in the Senate.

This was the message on Wednesday from the Palace, when asked about the possibility of the bill for the postponement of ARMM elections in August not being passed.

“In case the elections do push through… we will have to field candidates for the positions to make sure that we can institute the much-needed reforms in the region and, again, we’re not the only ones that should pursue reforms,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said in Wednesday’s news briefing at the Palace.

“The Comelec will also have to do its job on what they call the purging of the voters’ list,” she added.

The remarks came after a series of meetings between President Benigno Aquino and a good number of senators in connection with the proposed law postponing the ARMM elections.

Valte said no head count was made among the senators on the bill postponing the ARMM elections.

Asked if planning to field candidates was an indication that the Palace knew that the bill did not have the numbers to pass through the Senate, Valte said, “Well, again, as we always say, you hope for the best but you prepare for the worst.”

Valte said the remark on fielding candidates was first made by Communications Development Secretary Ramon Carandang in answer to a question on what the administration would do should the bill be bogged down in the Senate or questioned before the Supreme Court.

Former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., author of the ARMM Organic Law, expects senators to shun Aquino’s calls for them to support the postponement of the elections in the ARMM.

“I am confident that our senators can see through the unconstitutionality of postponing the ARMM election through a simple piece of legislation that will not be subjected to a plebiscite,” Pimentel said.

Aquino wants a law to postpone the ARMM elections for reforms in the field of governance and politics to take place in the region.

The administration plans to put in place officers-in-charge in the region when the terms of the ARMM officials end later this year.

The officers-in-charge are expected to lay the foundation for reforms that will do away with corruption and the politicians’ alleged control of the polls with command votes.

Aquino wants the ARMM elections to coincide with the mid-term national elections in 2013.