Sulu officials support postponement of ARMM polls

(Updated 9:46 p.m.) At least 30 local government officials from Sulu province, including Governor Abdusakur Tan, have signed a manifesto expressing support to the postponement of the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). In a press statement, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the manifesto is proof of the increasing support to Malacañang’s proposal to defer the ARMM elections, originally set in August, and synchronize it with the 2013 national and local elections. The manifesto expressed the local officials’ “cognizance and awareness of the true state of affairs in the ARMM" and “full support and concurrence for the postponement of the ARMM elections," Lacierda said. The manifesto, which was signed by the governor, 18 mayors, and 11 board members, was sent to President Benigno Aquino III, Lacierda said, adding that the officials cited the need for the “intervention of the President and the Central Government." The officials called on Aquino to appoint “capable personalities" to the transition government since incumbent elective officials of the ARMM shall hold office only until Sep. 30, 2011, after which Aquino will appoint officers-in-charge. The officers-in-charge will be in post until the next officials are elected. Lacierda said Aquino has repeatedly expressed that the postponement and consequent synchronization of the ARMM elections with the 2013 national elections is a vital foundation of systemic reform in Mindanao, a troubled region. “There is a distortion in the system that led itself easily to the phenomenon of command votes and the distortion of the ballot," he quoted Aquino as saying. Fate of ARMM polls known next week Lawmakers at the House of Representatives, meanwhile, are set to determine next week whether or not to postpone ARMM elections. House debates on House Bill 4146 seeking the postponement of the ARMM polls were suspended at 8 p.m. Tuesday due to the low number of congressmen in the plenary. “Although I am wearing a coat, I still feel cold here due to the lack of warm bodies," Davao del Sur Rep. Mark Douglas Cagas said before moving to adjourn session on Tuesday night. The discussions on the measure will resume on Monday or Tuesday next week, but Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III said the decision on the postponement will not affect the House vote on the impeachment case against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. “If we finish the impeachment early, we will continue the interpellation [on HB 4146]," he told reporters Wednesday night. The lower chamber is expected to discuss and vote on Gutierrez’s impeachment case on Monday. - Amita O. Legaspi and Andreo Calonzo/KBK, GMA News