SC stops Palace plan to name ARMM OICs

Malacañang cannot appoint officers-in-charge in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) until the Supreme Court decides with finality the petitions assailing the constitutionality of Republic Act No. 10153, the law that suspended the ARMM elections this year and synchronized them with the 2013 polls.

In an 8 to 4 vote, the high court en banc on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against RA 10153, which also provides for the appointment of officers in charge (OICs) for the regional governor, vice governor, and members of the regional legislative assembly.

What this means is that if the high court is not able to decide the consolidated ARMM cases before Sept. 30, the incumbent ARMM officials will continue in office, as provided for by RA 9054, until their successors are duly elected or are qualified by a high court decision, Supreme Court spokesperson Jose Midas Marquez explained.

Better now

RA 9054 is the Organic Act that created the ARMM. The terms of ARMM incumbents of the ARMM will expire on Sept. 30.

According to Marquez, it was better that a TRO be issued now before the OICs are appointed, as they would be if the high court is not able to decide the cases before Sept. 30.

If that happens and the high court later hands down a decision to strike down the provision allowing the appointment of OICs in RA 10153, there will be confusion and even chaos, he said.

Marquez said the TRO will take effect immediately and would be enforced “until lifted.”

The decision has yet to be released but Chief Justice Renato Corona has authorized the announcement of the decision, he said.

Infirmity in the law

Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said the TRO meant that the high tribunal “saw some infirmity, constitutional or statutory, in the law that was passed.”

The Aug. 8 ARMM elections have already been postponed and President Aquino is set to announce the ARMM OICs after the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) released the short list of nominees for the position.

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal and ex-senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. were among the parties that questioned the constitutionality of RA 10153.

Marquez said he has yet to see the dissenting opinions and could not say why four magistrates voted against the issuance of the TRO.

The magistrates who voted for the issuance of the TRO are Corona and Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco Jr., Arturo Brion, Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Roberto Abad, Jose Perez, Jose Mendoza and Martin Villarama.

The four dissenters were Associate Justices Antonio Carpio, Luis Bersamin, Diosdado Peralta and Ma. Lourdes Sereno.

On leave were Associate Justices Mariano del Castillo and Bienvenido Reyes. There remains one vacancy in the court.

Dismayed

In Cotabato City, the interview of the OIC applicants was being conducted on Tuesday by the panel headed by Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, the secretary was seen leaving the venue after reports came out about the high court TRO.

Some of the OIC candidates said they respected the high court decision while also expressing dismay at it.

Maguindanao Rep. Simeon Datumanong, who had opposed RA 10153, said he had expected a crucial decision from the high tribunal that would seriously consider arguments from both camps.

At the ARMM forum, seven candidates for governor and another seven for vice governor “underwent tight scrutiny from a panel of respected multisectoral group leaders from the region,” according to the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

The candidates will be ranked and separately endorsed to the House Speaker and Senate President, who will submit their recommendations to the President by Sept. 20. With Nash B. Maulana and Charlie C. Señase, DJ Yap and Christian Esguerra