MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur, March 14 (PIA) --- Provincial Governor Mamintal Adiong Jr. and the two congressional representatives from the province expressed objection to the proposed synchronization of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) elections with the 2013 National and Local elections.
During the public hearing on House Bill (HB) 4146 held at the Provincial Capitol Gymnasium here in the city, Governor Adiong said the postponement of the ARMM polls is a blatant violation of the constitution as it will take away the right of suffrage of the people in the autonomous region.
The right of suffrage is a privilege and a human right that the people in the ARMM must enjoy, he underscored.
He said Republic Act 9054 or the Organic Act for the ARMM rendered HB 4146 unconstitutional therefore elections should proceed as scheduled on August 2011.
Likewise, 1st District Representative Hussien Pangandaman opposed the postponement of the ARMM polls and the appointment of caretakers for the region citing that replacing the regularly elected officials with appointed ones is unconstitutional under the RA 9054.
He also emphasized that within the framework of the Organic Act, the President has supervisory powers and not control over the autonomous region stressing that by appointing, the President would put control over the region which clearly violates the Act.
For his part, Representative Pangalian Balindong of the 2nd District also voiced the same sentiment.
“The postponement is not the penultimate answer to address major reforms in the ARMM, in span of 21 years, there has been eight elections postponements in the region to suit political exigencies but problems persist,” he argued.
He also underlined that under the Organic Act, the term of office of regional governor, regional vice-governor, and members of the legislative assembly shall be three years and they shall continue to hold office until their successors have been duly elected by the people of the region.
Meantime, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima explained that the intention of proposing HB 4146 is not to undermine the democracy and autonomy in the region but rather it will strengthen the democratic system by putting in the necessary electoral reforms.
Based on her research and study of the constitutional and legal provisions involved, she clarified that the bill has no legal and constitutional infirmity.
She also spelled out the expressed constitutional intent or policy which is to synchronize the national and local elections stressing that ARMM elections is but a local elections.
HB 4146, she added, will not amend the Organic Act but it will merely amend RA 9333, an ordinary law that can be amended by another law.
The Justice Secretary further pointed out that the Supreme Court has ruled holdover as unconstitutional since it has the effect of extending the term of office when the constitution itself set it only for three years.
On the other hand, she said that appointment is defensible since the President has the power to step in and appoint OICs in order to prevent vacuum which the law does not allow in the case the postponement will push through.
De Lima moreover urged the multi-sectoral participants of the public hearing to let the President put in the necessary institutional, political, societal, and especially electoral reforms for the betterment of the autonomous region.
The House Committees on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms and Muslim Affairs conducted the public consultation on HB 4146 as granted by President Benigno Aquino III before the bill will be deliberated in the plenary. (Apipa Bagumbaran /PIA-10 Marawi)
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