Namfrel says ARMM poll postponement unconstitutional

Manila, Philippines - The National Citizen’s Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) has cautioned President Aquino that his insistence to postpone the Aug. 8 regional polls in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is already “bordering on unconstitutional.”

According to Namfrel secretary general Eric Alvia, President Aquino should just let the ARMM polls to push through as mandated by law and then implement the reforms that he wants for the region. “We question the legality (of a postponement) and the issue of regularity of election. There’s a law and we should follow the law,” he said in an interview.

The President has been open in his desire to synchronize the ARMM elections with the 2013 midterm polls. Last week, the President had met with some senators to urge them to support the passage of a bill that will postpone the ARMM polls.

Alvia warned that President Aquino “might just create problems in the future when this happens.”

“You cannot change something with an improper way also, or if the procedure of doing the intention is good but his way is problematic. It might even cause ill effects in the future,” he noted. Even if there are precedents in the past, it should not be a reason to postpone this year’s election.

He noted that while there is a need to institute reforms in ARMM, President Aquino should not use “drastic actions” to accomplish this. “I think we just have to push through with the election and then there would be time for change. That would be three years. We can hold a referendum to get the will of the people there,” Alvia said.

Less than a month before the Aug. 8 election in ARMM, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is still in quandary whether or not it would push through.

The Senate is yet to pass a counterpart legislation to a bill passed by the House of Representatives to postpone the polls while the Supreme Court has not resolved petitions that seek the holding of the election as scheduled.

There are some 1.7 million voters in the ARMM provinces of Basilan (except for Isabela City), Maguindanao (except for Cotabato City), Sulu, Lanao del Sur and Tawi-Tawi who will elect their regional governor, regional vice governor and members of the regional legislative assembly.