Bongbong: ARMM execs don't want polls postponed

Many of the local officials in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) are not in favor of having the scheduled August elections postponed, Senate local government panel chairman Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said Tuesday. "Right now the position of the political leaders and the Palace are not the same. It is the preference (of the) leadership in ARMM that there be an election," Marcos told reporters in a chance interview. He issued his remarks a day after Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile disclosed that there was a consensus between lawmakers and the Palace to synchronize the ARMM polls with the 2013 local and national elections. The ARMM elections is originally scheduled on August 8. Areas included in the ARMM are Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Marawi City. Enrile said the only remaining question is whether there will be a holdover of power or new appointments will be made by the President since the terms of the local officials in ARMM will expire this year. But Marcos noted that appointing officials who are supposed to be elected will violate the principle of the mandate of public officials. He likewise said that local officials have told him that they will not recognize officials who are just appointed. "This will cause a great deal of confusion and might deteriorate into [a] complete political chaos in [the] ARMM," he said. Marcos said the officials in the ARMM will only favor postponement if it will only be for a few weeks, or at least until "operational problems" can be resolved. "We must find a compromise," he said. Last week, two House panels approved the measure calling for the postponement of the ARMM polls. No similar legislation is pending in the Senate. — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ, GMA News