Comelec chief favors earlier elections for ARMM

MANILA, Philippines - Commission on Elections (Comelec) chief Jose Melo is in favor of conducting polls in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) ahead of the May 10, 2010 elections. "Personally I am in favor of it so that the concentration of our security forces and the election administration would be focused in the ARMM," he said on Monday, in reaction to proposals for an earlier ARMM polls. "If that would be the case, there might be fewer shenanigans there," Melo added, acknowledging that the ARMM had been a problematic area in the past elections. Melo said the proposed draft calendar for the May 2010 elections slated the ARMM polls on April 20, 2010. Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer, however, said that the calendar was not yet official due to the lack of a resolution from the Comelec en banc. Commissioner Elias Yusoph, for his part, said the commission would be violating the provisions of the Omnibus Election Code if the poll body would conduct an earlier and separate elections for the ARMM. “We still have to amend the law if it will be pursued. The law states that the elections must be held simultaneously, nationwide," Yusoph said, adding that some ARMM officials were against the proposal. “Ayaw nila yun e dahil [They are not in favor of it because] it is like ARMM is being marked as an area where cheating occurs," he said. - GMANews.TV