Mindanao lawmakers divided over ARMM polls postponement

MANILA, Philippines – Congressmen from Mindanao are divided on the proposed postponement of the Aug. 11 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

In a caucus presided over yesterday by Speaker Prospero Nograles, who comes from Davao City, the lawmakers failed to decide whether they would support the postponement or go on with the elections.

“There was no decision. Fourteen of us were for postponement, while an equal number were against it. Five abstained,” Deputy Speaker Simeon Datumanong of Maguindanao told reporters after the caucus.

A congressman said the 14 in favor of postponement were Muslim lawmakers representing various districts in ARMM, while those against it were not from the region.

Nograles admitted that the result of the meeting “is an indication that we are divided on the issue.”

He said he would try to schedule another meeting today “so that we can speak with one voice.”

He added that he was also concerned about reports that there was no senator willing to take up and sponsor the postponement proposal in the Senate.

“It was my understanding that Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri  (a former Bukidnon congressman) would be the sponsor. I will have to talk to him,” he said.

He pointed out that if no one would take up the proposal in the Senate, “we would just be wasting our time on this issue.”

Rep. Mujiv Hataman of the party-list group Anak Mindanao, who hails from Basilan, said Congress is fast running out of time to postpone the Aug. 11 polls.

“Even if we have a clear consensus to postpone it, I am afraid we have no more time. A bill will have to be endorsed by the committee on suffrage and electoral reform, and then debated and voted in plenary,” he said.

“That process will be repeated in the Senate. We have only a few session days left before Aug. 11, and those are not enough to finish the process,” he added.

President Arroyo has supported the call of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front  (MNLF) to postpone the ARMM elections.

But for Nograles, the President’s stand on the issue is “unclear, unless she certifies a postponement bill.”

Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr., who chairs the House suffrage and electoral reform committee, has opposed the postponement, saying it comes from “insurgent groups that have been butchering our soldiers.”

ARMM residents want elections

Residents in the ARMM urged President Arroyo not to endorse the postponement of elections in the region.

ARMM residents celebrate today (July 30) the Izra Wal Miraj or what for Muslims is the “nocturnal journey” to heaven of Prophet Mohammad, with prayers for the House of Representatives and the Senate not to pass any law postponing the Aug. 11 polls.

“We shall pray hard for the elections to push through as scheduled. Any postponement of the election just because a revolutionary organization has asked for it will intensify our people’s belief that the government cannot assert its authority over armed Moro groups,” said Ustadz Jipanul, a Yakan preacher.

Members of the ARMM’s Madaris Education Bureau, which has more than 700 missionaries scattered across the region, have warned legislators of “murkah” (divine wrath) if they would deliberate on Mrs. Arroyo’s endorsement of the postponement of elections without first consulting the voting residents.

The ARMM has more than a million registered voters, mostly led by religious and traditional leaders.

“By recognizing the tradition of Muslims on dialogue and consensus-building on issues and concerns, Congress will prove to the whole world that it loves the Muslims in Southern Philippines,” said Sultan Metalicop Unda, who is from the 11 Maranaw royal houses in Lanao del Sur.

Muhammad Ameen, MILF’s chief secretariat, said they consider Mrs. Arroyo’s mention of the peace process in her SONA as reflective of her determination to wind up her administration’s negotiation with the group during her term.

“I hope the President has changed her mind. The rank and file of the ARMM Madaris Education Bureau has been praying hard for that since she announced last July 22 in Shariff Kabunsuan that she wants the elections postponed,” said the bureau’s regional chief, Ustadz Farid Solaiman Adas.

Meanwhile, the United Opposition (UNO) said that the Arroyo administration is not dealing with the MILF in good faith.

In a statement, UNO spokesman Adel Tamano said the Arroyo administration is promising the MILF things that it cannot deliver, particularly the creation of a federal state.

Tamano, a Muslim himself, also deplored the apparent lack of transparency in the ongoing negotiations between the Arroyo government and the MILF. – With John Unson, Jose Rodel Clapano, Christina Mendez