ARMM elections

Members of our Bulong Pulungan group had the chance to hear the side of those opposed to the postponement of the election in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) scheduled to be held on Aug. 8. At a dinner, former Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., Rep. Simeon Datumanong, Almarim Centi Tillah, president of the Islamic Society of the Philippines, and Fr. Elmer Empenado, a Catholic priest, expressed their dismay over President Aquino’s certifying as urgent Bill 4146. Nevertheless, our guests who are against postponement seemed receptive to the idea of the President to conduct grassroots consultations to find out what the people really want: postponement or pushing through with the August ARMM elections. 

 As of this writing, two views — one pushing for the August election, and the other to postpone, and synchronize, the ARMM election with the local and national elections in May, 2013 — are burning the internet and press wires.

 One report says President Aquino is being influenced by his political adviser Ronald Llamas, a social democrat whose party list group Akbayan, leads the pro-synchronization move.

Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo understandably is in the forefront of promoting synchronization, and is roundly criticized for saying postponing and appointing officers-in-charge (OICs) during the period after the August election is cancelled and the 2013 officials are elected, will institute reform in ARMM elections, which he said, have been characterized by fraud.

The oppositors vehemently argue against Robredo’s message. Some say, if ARMM elections are fraudulent, why was President Aquino elected in the region in 2010. in an election that was orderly and peaceful?

For the benefit of people who do not know what the ARMM is, the region was created by law in August 1, 1989 through R.A. 6734, otherwise known as the Organic Act. Plebiscites were held in provinces in Mindanao, but only Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi and Marawi City voted favorably for inclusion in the new autonomous region. Today, ARMM counts as an additional sixth province, Shariff Kabunsuan.

RA 9054 provides that ARMM “shall remain an integral and inseparable part of the national territory of the Republic.” The region’s regional governor, regional vice governor and regular local executives are elected directly by ARMM constituents. The governor is chief executive, assisted by a cabinet and has control of all the regional executive commissions, agencies, boards, bureaus and offices. The President of the Philippine Republic, however, exercises general supervision over the regional governor.

According to published reports, the region is one of the most impoverished areas in the Philippines.

If that is so, how come people will die, kill, and be killed, to be at the helm of its government? As we all know, a number of royalty and officials live in mansions and exhibit profligate wealth while all around them are very poor and illiterate constituents. Where does their money come from? You and I can only surmise how and who their money source is.

We are still smarting from the painfully slow resolution of the Maguindanao massacre. The ARMM governor, Zaldy Ampatuan, is under detention for involvement in the massacre.

 The oppositors are a mix of Muslims and non-Muslims, national and local legislators. Among the legislators are Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Deputy House Speaker Jesus Crispin Remulla, Reps. Simeon Datumanong of Maguin-danao, Tupay Loong of Sulu, Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City, Marc Douglas Cagas IV of Davao del Sur, and Nur Jaafar of Tawi-Tawi.

Datumanong and Jaafar maintain that the postponement is illegal and violates the Constitution and the ARMM charter which set out a term of three years for local officials, with no term extensions. The two, along with Loong, say the organic law (that created the ARMM) must first be amended and then subjected to a plebiscite before any postponement can be effected.

Pimentel , author of the ARMM law, does not agree with President Aquino’s certifying as urgent HB4146, saying that a bill is certified as urgent to meet a public calamity or national emergency. “There is no national emergency except an imagined one by those close to the President who want to assume power at ARMM without a legitimate mandate coming from the electorate.” A bill, Pimentel said, must undergo three readings on three separate days in both houses of Congress except when the President certifies it as urgent.

Earlier, a report said, Pimentel had said that holding the ARMM election separately from the 2013 national and local election would allow the Comelec, poll watchdogs, the police and military, and all stakeholders to focus on the conduct of the ARMM election.

 In such a situation, the report noted Pimentel as saying, the armed partisans of political clans at ARMM would not be able to affect the conduct and result of the election. On the other hand, synchronizing the ARMM election with the national and local elections would dilute attention away from the region, thereby allowing political operators room to maneuver, Pimentel said.

Still others claim the appointment of OICs to positions left vacant, will see the emergence of people close to the powers-that-be who could wield tremendous powers, people who are not the choice of the electorate.

Representative Cagas said the appointment of OICs would be met with stiff opposition because Muslim Filipinos want leaders they trust enough to elect and who understand their desires and aspirations. “Manila cannot ram into the collective throat of the ARMM people a set of leaders who are not accountable to them. Mindanaoans have always been alienated by impositions of the national government and none can be worse than this plan to appoint OICs.”

Pimentel put it bluntly: “Why do we interfere with the affairs of ARMM? We should let the people there decide whom to vote. Some mistakes may have been committed here and there, but let us let them become mature leaders of their destiny.”

Representative Rodriguez, a non-Muslim lawmaker said the plan to postpone the ARMM election is anti-democratic. “It is against democratic practice to scrap the August election and let appointed officials rule the autonomous region. Congress does not have the legal right to empower the President to appoint ARMM officials without the approval of two-thirds of the members of the ARMM legislative assembly.”

On the constitutionality of the postponement proposal, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said during a public consultation on HB 4246 that she found no legal infirmity to the postponement. “I am here to witness democracy and transparency in action, in my capacity as the secretary of the Department of Justice and therefore the attorney general and principal legal adviser of the President. Based on research and carefully analysis, I tell you that I find no legal infirmity in the proposal.”

And so the debates continue. Let’s watch how the issue is solved.

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