Don’t give meaning to Aquino-Ebrahim meeting in Tokyo, says gov’t chief lawyer

MANILA, Philippines—The government’s chief lawyer branded as speculation allegations by administration critics that President Benigno Aquino III would appoint members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as officers-in-charge in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Solicitor-General Jose Anselmo Cadiz told reporters that the public should not put any other meaning on the meeting in Tokyo between the President and MILF head Al Haj Murad Ebrahim.

“We must not speculate about it,” Cadiz said. Cadiz is arguing in behalf of the government on the validity of Republic Act 10153, or the law allowing the synchronization of the August ARMM polls with the 2013 elections.

Petitioners Jacinto Paras and opposition lawmaker Edcel Lagman both told the high court justices that there was the possibility of members of the MILF being appointed as OIC-ARMM officials after the Aug. 8, 2011, polls were cancelled.

“We need to know the government’s agenda for postponing the elections,” Lagman told the high court.

The House Minority Leader, who is urging President Aquino to make public details of his secret meeting in Japan with Erahim said the MILF could figure in on the “projected selection of OICs.”

Under Republic Act 10153, Aquino is allowed to appoint officers-in- charge of ARMM until an official has been elected in May 2013.

Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, meanwhile, noted that it is not stated in the Constitution that the President can appoint an elective official in case of vacancy.

Carpio said that if there is a vacancy, Congress should pass a law calling for a special election like in the case of Ronald Singson. Congress called for a special election, which was conducted last May 28 after Singson was convicted of drug possession by the Wan Chai District Court in Hong Kong.

Cadiz pointed out that the postponement of the election is aimed to purge the voters’ list in Maguindanao, where vote padding is believed to have occurred in the 2004 national polls, and to institute reforms for orderly and peaceful elections.

But former UP Law Dean Pacifico Agabin earlier argued that reforms can be done in a few months and “can even be carried on simultaneously with the elections.”

Former Senator Aquilino Pimentel echoed the stand of Agabin, saying the elections can be held next month or in November.

“And it is possible to do it (elections) with dispatch since there are only five individuals to be voted on for every regional legislative district of the ARMM: one governor, one vice governor and three regional legislators per district,” Pimentel told the high court.

“There is no need to automate the elections. We can do them manually but under the full glare of the eagle eyes of responsible Comelec officials, unbiased law enforcers, conscientious PPCRV, neutral Namfrel, the other reliable electoral watchdogs and the free media and concerned citizens that abound in the land,” Pimentel added.

President Aquino has defended the decision to synchronize the ARMM elections with the 2013 polls.

In his State of the Nation Address, Aquino said, “Why do we need to postpone the elections? Because, in their desire to return to or retain power, many are prepared to engage in corrupt practices just to win again.”

“Imagine if we had listened to the critics, and allowed the election to proceed under these circumstances. We would have perpetuated the endless cycle of electoral fraud and official abuse that has led ARMM to become one of the poorest regions in the country,” Aquino said.

But petitioners argued that with the postponement of the elections under RA 10153, the autonomy guaranteed by the 1987 Constitution to the ARMM is rendered meaningless.