No more ARMM elections next month - Comelec

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday that it is no longer possible to hold the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) polls as originally scheduled on Aug. 8, despite the clamor of some sectors to push through with the regional elections.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said that one month is not enough to prepare for the ARMM elections.

Jimenez said the Comelec needs at least two months to prepare for a manual election in ARMM.

House Minority Leader Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman filed at the Supreme Court last week a petition to junk Republic Act 10153 that synchronizes the ARMM polls with the 2013 midterm polls.

Former Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and election lawyer Romulo Macalintal have filed separate petitions challenging the constitutionality of the law.

Jimenez added that the Comelec would have to manifest its “scheduling difficulties” if asked by the high tribunal for opinion on the petitions.

Pimentel and the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan along with two Muslim leaders agreed with Lagman that allowing President Aquino to appoint officers-in-charge of ARMM until the next officials are elected in 2013 violates the Constitution.

“The power given by RA 10153 to the President to appoint OICs in ARMM is an encroachment of the political autonomy of ARMM, a repudiation of the right of its people to self determination, and an unwarranted substitution of the judgment of the people of the region as to who should govern them, thereby, effectively breaching the Constitution wall that merely gives the President the power of general supervision only, not control, over the autonomous region,” said the petitioners.

PMM to bring case to UN court

A workers and farmers political group said it would bring to the United Nations court the postponement of ARMM elections, agreeing with Pimentel that it is “a blatant violation of human rights.”

In a forum, Partido ng Manggagawa at Magsasaka (PMM) president Jose Malvar Villegas Jr. said the postponement of polls in ARMM is equivalent to “illegal cancellation” as this denies people their right to choose their leaders.

“President Aquino cannot just appoint officials or his allies to take over in ARMM. The right of suffrage, among all other human rights, has been clearly recognized in various laws and cannot be simply seized by anyone without going through legal process (that is election).”

“We are bringing the case to the UN because the postponement of poll in ARMM is a violation of the right of suffrage as contained in the 1987 Philippine Constitution and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

Villegas said under Article 25 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, “every citizen has the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs, to be voted and elected, and have access to public service in his country.”

At the same time, Villegas called House Bill No. 4146, filed by Rep. Sandra Ampatuan Sema, as “unconstitutional” since it embraces too many subjects such as the synchronization of elections, term of office of elective officials, and appointment of officer-in-charge in the region. 

“The act of the President in certifying the bill as urgent also produces doubt as to its validity because of the absence of public emergency or calamity that would necessitate the postponement of elections in ARMM,” he said.

The UN International Court of Justice could take cognizance of this once a complaint is filed by the PMM, he said.

Opportunity for reforms

Meanwhile, civil society in ARMM said the postponement of the elections should be grabbed by the Aquino administration as an opportunity to institute reforms.

Mussolini Lidasan, lead convenor of the People’s Action Against Corruption (PAAC), said genuine reforms could be instituted in the region’s five provinces especially with the right choice of leaders to be named in the transition government.

Lidasan said civil society in Mindanao is hopeful the President will be guided by wisdom and eschew political considerations and affiliations when he chooses the leaders of the ARMM transition government.

Lidasan made the call in a good governance and reform in ARMM forum entitled “The ARMM in the next 21 Months and Beyond” held at the National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG) in UP Diliman, Quezon City, last week. – With Edu Punay, Rainier Allan