Palace: ARMM officials may stay put

Secretary Edwin Lacierda. INQUIRER file photo

Elected officials in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) may have to “stay put” after their terms expire at the end of the month lest a power vacuum occurs in the impoverished region, according to Malacañang

Secretary Edwin Lacierda, presidential spokesperson, gave this view Thursday, as the Palace awaited recommendations from its legal team and the interior department on how to proceed after the Supreme Court stalled the enactment of a law synchronizing the next ARMM elections with the 2013 midterm polls.

“Since we have a (temporary restraining order issued by the court), we cannot appoint (officers-in-charge at ARMM) right now because we are barred from doing so by that order,” Lacierda said in a news briefing.

“The most logical thing is for the incumbent officials to stay put,” he said.

But citing earlier jurisprudence, Lacierda pointed out that the Supreme Court had also ruled that having holdover officials was unconstitutional.

“Unfortunately, we do not want a vacuum. So we have to ask (Interior) Secretary (Jesse) Robredo what the action of the executive branch is,” Lacierda said, adding that Malacañang’s legal team was also being consulted on the matter.

“It’s something that is important for governance to continue. There should be somebody on hand to continue public service,” he added.

The Supreme Court last week issued a temporary restraining order against a law that timed the ARMM elections with the 2013 balloting and authorized the appointment of officers-in-charge after the mandate of incumbent officials expires on September 30.

Lacierda on Thursday stressed that the government’s reform agenda in the ARMM would depend on the Supreme Court’s decision on the constitutionality of the synchronized elections.

He said the administration was hoping the justices would still listen to sentiments favoring the synchronization, since “we were able to convince stakeholders in ARMM about the necessity for reform and (that) the way to bring about reform in ARMM is through appointing OICs.”

Malacañang has maintained the view that reforms may not be possible in ARMM if the same politicians regain control of the region, where poverty remains widespread despite the billions of pesos in development funds poured into it each year.

Also on Thursday, the Commission on Elections said voters in the ARMM need not worry about the possibility that the Supreme Court would order that elections be held in the region soon.

Commission on Elections spokesperson James Jimenez said the poll body had already prepared the requirements such as the computerized voters’ list and list of candidates, and that its field personnel remained on standby.

“We will not be starting from scratch. We are about 40- to 50-percent ready. We’re almost halfway,” Jimenez told reporters.

He said that at this stage, the Comelec would only be most busy preparing for voting automation and tying up with the Department of Education regarding the designation of election inspectors. With a report from Jerome Aning