Lawmakers vow to block move to postpone ARMM polls

MANILA, Philippines -  Several lawmakers vowed to block any attempt to delay the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) elections this August as any move to put off the polls would be unconstitutional.

Maguindanao Rep. Simeon Datumanong, a constitutional law expert, questioned the legality of pending measures in the House of Representatives seeking to postpone the ARMM elections and have these coincide with the May 2013 local polls.

House Bill 3542 stipulates that all incumbent ARMM officials shall continue to stay in their offices in a “holdover capacity” until their successors are elected in 2013.

Datumanong, however, said the bill would violate Republic Act 9333 which provides that the term of office in the ARMM “shall be for a period of three years up to Sept. 30, 2005 and every three years thereafter.”

“Under the law, under which the fifth ARMM elections were held in 2005, elections are to be held in the second Monday of August,” he said.

Leyte Rep. Sergio Apostol, a former presidential legal counsel, cited a ruling of the Supreme Court that maintained that the term of office of elected ARMM officials is for three years and cannot be extended.

“If we extend the term of office, that becomes unconstitutional and null and void,” Apostol said.

The House committees on suffrage and electoral reforms, and Muslim affairs have jointly conducted hearings on the bill where Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes maintained that the poll body is ready to implement the ARMM elections.

Brillantes said the Comelec has an available P1.8-billion budget sufficient to cover all the necessary expenses for the ARMM elections in August.

Brillantes earlier said the poll body had agreed to use precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines in the ARMM elections upon the recommendation of the Comelec Advisory Council.

Ramon Casiple, chairman of the Consortium on Electoral Reforms, told the House panels that the holding of a regular election is a hallmark of democracy. “And if we presume that we are democratic, there should be no postponement of the ARMM elections,” he said.

During the hearings, Mario Gabito, assistant director of the Bureau of Local Government Supervision, said the Executive branch is backing proposals to delay the ARMM elections with Malacañang appointing officers-in-charge who are not eligible to run for any public office in May 2013.

However, this drew sharp criticisms from lawmakers as the ARMM Law only grants the President with supervisory powers over the ARMM.

“The reason is that the President has been given by the Constitution only the power of general supervision over the ARMM which does not include the power to appoint,” Datumanong said.

“Under Republic Act 9054, the President can suspend the regional governor only if he has violated the law on the expenditure of funds but does not include the power to replace him. And under our doctrine of inclusio unius exclusio altenus, the President legally cannot appoint the interim officials of the ARMM until 2013,” he said.

Other committee members who are against the postponement of the ARMM elections are Reps. Rufus Rodriguez (Cagayan de Oro), Marc Douglas Cagas (Davao del Sur), Karlo Alexei Nograles (Davao City), Raden Sakaluran (Sultan Kudarat), and Ma. Angelica Amante-Matba (Agusan del Norte).  – With Mayen Jaymalin