Miriam: ARMM poll postponement ‘unconstitutional’

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago on Monday said President Benigno Aquino III was ill-advised on his decision to call for the postponement of the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). “It is the fault of the President’s legal advisors. They should all be sent to Fukushima," she told reporters, referring to the prefecture in Japan recently hit by a strong earthquake and is currently facing threat of a nuclear meltdown. The feisty senator said Aquino’s proposal is unconstitutional. “I’m very sclerotic, meaning to say I am very rigid, in my principles on my position against the postponement of the ARMM elections because there are more than three constitutional reasons that militate against the postponement," she told reporters. “I am sure that if a case shall be brought to the Supreme Court, the postponement by statute will be automatically declared unconstitutional by the high court," she added. Santiago said the Constitution provides ARMM a “certain degree of independence". “If we are going to empower the executive branch of government to appoint so-called officers-in-charge starting this year to 2013 in the next elections then, in effect, Mindanao is not autonomous to the national government," she said. She added the Constitution specifically provides that the President exercise general supervision to see to it that the laws are faithfully executed. The senator said the law only gives the President the power of general supervision and not the power of control. “The ‘power of control’ means the power to alter, modify, nullify and to set aside the decisions of his subordinates. To be able to postpone the elections will be the exercise of the power of control because it will alter and modify what is already existing. That is prohibited by the Constitution," Santiago said. She said the President must only see to it that the officials in the ARMM execute their functions properly. She further said the Constitution provides that the ARMM have its own legislature which should be free to create laws for its own region, except in certain areas which are reserved for the national government. “There is a definite enumeration of those areas where the national government can intervene, and the holding of elections is not included in the list," she said. She added when the law specifies a list, then it is meant to be exclusive and must not be interpreted to mean that it includes other subjects that are not included in that list. Santiago also explained that since Republic Act 6734 – the Organic Act which created the ARMM – took effect only after a plebiscite, any changes to it should also undergo a plebiscite. “If you want to change the Organic Act with respect to the elections scheduled to be held this August, you must not only pass a new law in Congress but also hold a plebiscite because that is how the Organic Act was passed in the first place," she said. “So if you cannot muster a plebiscite, there is no point going through the House [of Representatives] and the Senate. Remember we are talking about autonomy in local government. If the people in that local government area are against postponement, why should we impose it especially when our Constitution protects their right to autonomy?" she added. “The Constitution is being violated in at least three counts, so I can’t possibly vote for this law," Santiago said. – MRT/KBK, GMA News